The Shadow Of Death
by WhiteLight12
Summary: Lilly James goes on a trip with her eight friends in memory of their lost friends. However, in being on this trip, they are all put through something terrifying as they get more than what they asked for.
1. Chapter 1 Prologue: A Year Ago

The night seemed to arrive faster than I thought with the winds blowing the snow around outside of the cabin. Even looking outside seemed to put me on edge just a bit but that was the least of my worries at this moment. I joined my friends and tried to protest on a prank they were pulling on Hannah, my and Sam's best friend. I was in no part of this and frankly they shouldn't be doing this. When I walk up to where Sam and them were, Jess had set a written note from Mike she had written to trick her. Sam notices me and I stand on her right side.

"Oh my god! I can't believe we're doing this." Emily whispered to us. We end up shushing her at that. "Isn't this a bit cruel for your standards?" I ask in a whisper. Jess turns to me with a smug grin after she sets the note down on the bar. "Oh come on! She deserves this." Jess answered. "It's not her fault she's got a huge crush on Mike!" Sam whispered loudly, also in protest of this cruel prank. "You guys wouldn't do that with me now would you?" I bring up, because they know I got a crush on Josh, Hannah's brother. "Well, she's been making the moves on him. I'm just looking out for my girl, Em." Jess said, making a sly point before we go into the other room.

Feeling uneasy, Sam and I make our way up the stairs. "Where do you think she could be?" I ask Sam, who was a bit ahead of me. "Wherever Mike is. Don't you agree that this isn't right?" she asked, going around the staircase on the right side. "Hell yeah I don't think this is right. I mean, you guys know of my crush on Josh and they didn't do this to me." I say, slightly blushing in saying Josh's name because they know it's true. "I know right? I'll kill them if they try to with you." she responded, looking back at me. I smile but only for a second because we had to find Hannah before they go with their fiendish plan.

The two of us walk through the hallway until we hear Hannah in the other room. When we walk in there, anger boiled in my veins because Hannah was standing there with her shirt halfway off and the others were mocking her while Matt held up a selfie stick as if he was going to record the whole thing. "Hannah, honey we-" Sam tried explaining but Hannah runs out of the room in complete embarrassment. "You guys are jerks, you know that?" Sam spat at them, turning out of the room. "What the hell is wrong with you guys? I mean seriously." I shake my anger in disgust. I quickly follow where Sam went to and to where Hannah ran off too. Turns out we're not the only ones who noticed Hannah run off. Her twin sister, Beth too noticed.

We all run outside into the cold. "Hannah!" Sam called, cupping her hands around her mouth. Beth pushes past us and turned to face us. "What's going on? Where's my sister going?" she asked us. I look out into the woods and felt worried about Hannah. "It's nothing, she just can't take a joke." Jess cruelly says, pissing me off but I kept my anger to myself. "We were just messing around Beth, it's nothing serious." Mike said, trying to play it off. "You jerks!" Beth shouted, taking off into the night. I shake my head in disbelief at what just happened. "You think we should go after her?" Mike quoted. I twisted my head to where Mike was standing, giving a face of disgust. "You know I think she's the last person she wants to see right now Mike." Sam spat at him. "Yeah. So just keep your mouth shut." I spit, agreeing with Sam.

After both Hannah and Beth disappeared into the woods, we didn't realize that that was going to be the last time we would ever see them again. All because of a stupid prank that they pulled... And Sam and I wanted nothing to do with it.


	2. Chapter 2 Memento Mori

Exactly a year had passed since that tragic night of Hannah and Beth disappearing. It had been all over the news and even Josh had been distraught on losing both of his sisters in one night. Sam and I have done everything we could to help through the losses. And as a result of the anniversary, we all decided to go back up to the cabin to honor the losses. I do miss them greatly but during this trip, I want to put the past behind me and just enjoy the weekend. Sam and I were riding on a bus that was going to take us to the ski lodge. We were listening to the radio on Sam's phone with an earbud in each of our ears and they were talking about Hannah and Beth's disappearance. It's not much to look on even though they've been doing what they could in trying to find them.

Soon enough, we were watching a video of Josh. "Hello friends and fans! Alright let's do that again." he said, walking up to the camera to adjust it to where we could see him clearly. Once he did, he got back a few feet. "Well, hello friends and fans! It's beyond awesome to have everyone here for the annual winter getaway!" he starts, pretending to be a crowd cheering. I smile at this and feel myself blush a bit, it wouldn't go unnoticed either. Then his face dropped in sadness as he begins again, "Now, let's take a moment to address the elephant in the room for a moment. You guys know it means so much to me that we're doing this and... it would mean so much to Hannah and Beth that we're doing this. And that we're thinking of them..." He said while looking down before that same smile reappeared. "So... Let's party like we're fucking pornstars! This is gonna be fun!" He laughed before the video ended.

The way he said that made me blush red. "Oh boy I can hear the church bells ringing now." Sam teases me with a smile and she pokes me. She knows that I like josh so she often teases me about it. I laugh in embarrassment and playfully shove her. "Okay that's enough of that. Its not like I worship the guy." I say, rolling my eyes. "Yeah sure." Sam smiled. At this, we both laugh honestly. She's only playing with me and frankly I'm used to it.

"Okay in all seriousness, we absolutely got to be there for him. We both know that he's still hurting from it.." Sam said sympathetically. I look down at my hands, which were resting on my lap. "Yeah I know. Losing a loved one hurts... I mean we have been with him through it." I say, looking at her. She agreed with me on that.

After while, night had arrived and the temperature h as d dropped, getting both Sam and I to shiver. The bus soon left shortly after we got off. We cross through the gate, which was slightly frozen. The cold air made me shiver and I rubbed my arms to help warm myself up. I looked around in hearing something in the woods.  
"Hello? Is anybody there?" Sam called, looking off to the right. I glanced over at where she was looking. "Do you think Chris is trying to scare us again?" I ask feeling slightly skeptical. "Unlikely. I don't think he's here yet." Sam answered. We continued to walk down the path that was slightly dark but we could see the path still.

Soon enough, we make it to a gate that had a piece of paper on the gate. Sam approached it and pulled it off. "Aw man." she groaned, examining the paper. I trot up to her. "We got to go over. Gates broke." she said, dropping the paper on the ground. "Great. Didn't think to bring my climbing gear with me." I sarcastically said, walking over to the ice covered wall. I let Sam go first considering she has more experience than me. Once she made it on top, she leaned over to help me up.

With one swift jump, I grabbed a hold of Sam's hand and she hoisted me up. "There ya go. It pays to have climbing experience. " Sam said as I sat on the top. "Very funny." I say with a half grin. We then push ourselves off the frozen wall and we landed on the snow. "Alright. Chris should already be there." Sam tells me. I brush myself off from the snow. "Yeah. He's been always been punctual unlike a few other people we know." I responded. "Yeah no shit." She said in a joking tone. To that, we laugh and continuing on. The air was freezing enough to where I could see my own breath when I exhaled. Soon enough, Sam gets fascinated by a single squirrel who just happened to appear out of no where.

I will admit, I'm an animal lover myself so I can't help but gush at this critter. "Aww... Hey there little fella. You hungry?" Sam gushed, kneeling down to give it some food. I too kneel down to look at it as it took the food from Sam's hand. "Heh, what a cutie." I said, smiling at it as it ran by us. Sam chuckled too as we got back to our feet. I chuckle and push myself up. After that, we continue on with getting to the cable cars. Once we get to where they were, I took a good look at the view before us and I'm a sucker for the wonders of nature. I didn't even notice that Sam walked off from me. "Hey Lilly. Take a look at this." she called me, pulling me out of the view that seemed to distract me from what we were really doing.

I look over to where Sam is and notice the graffiti on one of the maps to the mountain. It said, "The past is beyond our control." I cock my eye brow at it in confusion. "Wow, who'd graffiti all the way up here?" Sam asked. I shrug my shoulders at that. "Who knows? However, this is very creepy." I answer, walking back to the cable car station. On the bench, was Chris's bag. "Hey, Sam. Chris is definitely here. He left his bag here." I point out. We call out his name but got no response. As I was looking around the area to hopefully find him, Sam says, "Hello. What do we have here? Someone forgot to turn their phone off." I turn to what she was looking at. She was holding his phone in her hand and was tempted to answer the phone considering it was buzzing. Even though it was tempting, I knew we should respect his privacy.

"Uhh Sam, I don't think you should mess with that. Chris'll be pissed if he found out you touched his phone." I tell her in a hushed tone. She looked back at me before looking down at his phone. "Yeah, you're right. Alright I'll put it back." she said with a frown. She wanted to look through it but she also knows that I'll be there to stop her nosy Nate feature. Once she put it back, she zips it up so the phone was out of sight and out of mine. "Hey, Sam! Lilly! You guys made it!" Chris said, excitedly from behind us. Needless to say, he did startle us and we twist around to see him with a heavy coat on that had a fur collar on it. "Oh god Chris. Don't do that." Sam exclaimed. "You scared us, dude." I agreed, still feeling startled. Chris held up his hands and pretended to be offended.

"Enough of that. I got something to show you two. It's kinda amazing." Chris said, picking his bag up and putting around his shoulders. He doesn't know took a hold of his phone. "What would that be?" I asked, now curious. "You'll just have to wait and see. C'mon. It's around here." he told me, being secretive. The two of us begin to follow him around the corner of the station. "Where?" Sam wondered, walking a step behind me. "Right around here. I'm gonna blow your minds." he answered, leading us behind the station. The snow crunched under our feet as we walked.

We make it around the corner to find an old shooting range with a rifle sitting on the range. "Ta-da! Pretty gnarly right?" he said, posing as if he's presenting something. "Yeah, pretty gnarly." I said, nodding at the range. Didn't think there would be one of these old things here. "Aw come on! Look at these beauties!" Chris boasted. I roll my eyes at how enthusiastic he is. "Well, 'beauties' is not the word that comes to mind. Why is this even here?" Sam asks. Chris adjusts his bag on his shoulders. "What do you mean?" he wondered in confusion. "What the hell is a shooting range doing in the base of the ski lodge, Chris? That's what she meant." I reword her statement. Chris picks up the rifle with both hands and holds it carefully. "Have you two met Josh's dad before?" he questioned. "Yeah..." both Sam and I respond. I had my hands on my hips and cock my eyebrow. "Well, the dude thinks he's Grizzly Adams or something. Want to try?" he asked us. I have shot a gun before but not a rifle because I'd fall on my ass for shooting it.

"Nah. Go ahead Grizzly Adams. Show us all the charm." I joke, walking up to the range. Sam followed me. "Yeah. Go ahead Grizzly." she agreed with me. I lean on the range with both hands pressed onto the old wood. He holds the gun up and aims it at one of the bags that had a faded out target sign on it. He fires the gun and it hits it dead on. "Wow. Nice shootin' tex." Sam joked, talking in a texan accent. "You got the game." I joke, talking texan. Chris proceeds to dance in a silly manner, getting me to chuckle. "Oh yeah! I'm bad! I'm a badass." he said as he danced. "We're just going ahead and say that's a wild case of beginners luck." Sam said in a joking manner. "Is that all you got, boy?" I say in agreement. He wagged his finger at us before holding the gun up again. "Nah, I don't think so girls. Here, Lilly. You think you can do better?" he said, handing me the gun. Well, so much for not wanting to fall on my ass with this gun.

"Alright. You're on." I say with a competitive tone. I hold the gun with both hands and found it to be heavy some. But it wasn't heavy enough to pull me down to the ground like in those cartoons you see on Saturday TV. "Let's see what you got sista." Sam said to me, knowing I'm pretty handy with a gun. I give her sass before holding the gun up in the proper position. I look through the scope that was attached to it and aim it at the empty beer bottle. "Here we go." I say before pulling the trigger. It hit the bottle directly into oblivion. I lower the gun and felt proud of myself for not only hitting it but not falling directly on my ass for pulling the trigger.

"You're a better shot than me, lil' Brown." Chris said, impressed by shooting skills. "Well, you haven't seen me shoot before. I could put a bullet into said person's skull however, I'm not the murderous type." I gloat, handing him the gun back. "Whoa, take it easy there. Wouldn't want to get my head blown off now would I?" Sam joked, giving a smile. I playfully punch her because she knows I'm a pretty nifty shot. We watch as Chris took another shot at the second bottle and another sack with the same faded target on it.

However, I see a squirrel crawl on top on the other barrel in the shooting range. Before we could say anything, Chris winds up shooting the squirrel. My blood boiled at this as well as Sam's. "Chris! What the hell!?" I shout, shoving him in anger. "What? Why are you getting mad at me?" He said, offended. "That little guy was alive ten seconds ago! How could you do that?!" Sam scolded at him. "What? Squirrels are just rats with bushy tails." Chris replied, seeming not phased by our sudden anger. "God, Chris! That's a real dick move! Don't do that again!" I shout, walking away from him. Sam followed me seconds after. Suddenly, the form of a black crow flies down to where Sam was.

"Aah! What is that?! Get it away!" Sam cried out, the bird attacking her. I run back to her and smack the bird away from her, causing it to fly away from her. "Sam! Are you okay?" I ask her in concern. "Agh... yeah. I'm fine." she replied, shaking her head. I noticed that bird left two scratches on the side of her head. "Let's get to the cable car. It should be here by now." she replied. "Yeah, we killed enough time to wait for the car." Chris added, walking past Sam and I. We follow behind him and out of the corner of my eye, was a missing's persons poster. "Whoa... look at this." Sam said in a lowered voice.

I look at the missing's persons poster and examined it carefully. "Wow, if this isn't the scariest thing I've seen so far then I don't know what would be next." I say, looking at the poster. "You guys think America's Most Wanted will pay us a visit?" Chris joked. "Huh. Looks like someone thought so." Sam agreed with the both of us. We continue on to where the front of the cable car is.

"You know it must be hard for Josh." Sam said as we make it to the front. "I know. I don't know how he keeps it together. I'd be a wreck if I were him." Chris agreed with her. "Jeez, he's one tough guy for keeping his emotions bottled up like that." I say, feeling sentimental. Sam walks up to the door, only to find it locked. "Hey, that's weird, why's the door locked?" she asked. Chris rubbed the back of his neck as he answered. "Well, Josh said he found some couple staying in the station during one of the winters like this." he answered. Shivers ran down my spine just for hearing that. "That's just creepy." Sam said. "Couldn't agree with you more." I add. Chris pulls out the key to get in and goes to unlock the door. Once he did open it, he stepped aside so he would let Sam and I in first. "After you ladies." he said cockily. "Lady? You must be thinking of someone else." I say, winking at him. "You're quite the gentleman." Sam added. He's always trying to play the gentleman of the group.

I walk in and go to the front window to see that it wasn't there. "It's not here yet guys." I say with a groan. "You serious?" Sam added, looking out the window with me. "Dead serious." I respond, shaking my head. "Guess we got to wait." Chris commented. I walk outside to where we enter the car and lean on the slightly frozen railing. I look around the area to see the frosty wind just blowing around the night and seeing this made my heart flutter. Sam joined me and she stopped on my right side, crossing her arms on the railing.

"Even though the mountain looks kind of creepy, it's still wonderful to look at. Especially during these kind of winter." I comment, not looking away from the view in front of us. "You're telling me. One can only wonder what really lies in the mountain." she replied. "That, I don't want to think about." I say, playfully shoving her. "You know, shooting those bottles at the shooting range sounds more appealing than I thought." Sam added, "Got any idea of how long this'll take?" I only shrug at what she asked, revealing that I don't got a clue.

"Your pretty poem. The sleeping giant of BlackWood Forest." Chris commented from inside of the station. "Oh shut up." Sam called, turning her head to look behind her. I exhale and curl my lips together. "What a crazy place to set up house." Chris comments, talking about the ski lodge. "Well, if they were any more rich then they would've bought more than just a mountain." I respond casually. "Ain't that the truth." Sam agreed. Not soon after that, the cable car started to show up. I push back from the railing and walked to where the entrance was. "Finally. You coming, Chris?" Sam called. "Well, I was going to stay here and catch some Z's but... okay." Chris joked. The cable car stops and the door opens. I walk in first and sit at the right side of the cable car with Sam and Chris following behind me. Sam sits in the middle and Chris was on the other side.

Soon enough, the car starts up. "Here we go!" Sam said with enthusiasm. "This is exciting!" I add, feeling slightly thrilled. I adjust myself in the seat as we begin to to go upward. "Oh boy I hope this is the right thing to do." Sam inquired. "What do you mean?" Chris wondered. "Well, considering everyone is getting together for the anniversary, Josh seems really pumped up about this whole thing. Especially since we are helping through this." I answer, slightly turning myself to face my two friends. "Well yeah! I mean, this is the first time he's been excited about something since... forever." Chris said, facing Sam and I.

"Well, it's kind of hard to tell with him. Lilly and I have been worried about him." Sam said in a saddened tone. "No no, it was a good idea." Chris said, trying to be uplifting. "Heh, thanks a lot bro. This is such a wonderful chat." I say, feeling slightly better. Sam chuckled at what I said and she scoots back a bit. "How about we don't talk about what happened and just enjoy the trip?" Chris suggested, wanting to change the subject. "Yeah. True. It's not worth discussing." Sam agreed, also wanting to change the subject.

"You know how Josh and I met?" Chris asked us. "Nope." Sam and I answer in sync. Frankly, I don't know how him and Chris first met. So I guess it's better than discussing of the events of last year. "Okay, third grade. Josh sat in the back of the room, I sat in the front, we didn't even know each other existed. But, the kid sitting next to Josh started strap snapping the training bra on the girl in front of him, so the teacher made him move to the front, where I was sitting." Chris began, looking from the ice covered window to the two of us. I cock my eye brow at this.

"So?" Sam asks. "What else happened?" I ask to add on. "So I got moved to the back." Chris continued. "Let me guess, this is how you guys met because that girl hit womanhood early enough to help you two?" I ask, taking a logical guess. Both Sam and Chris were surprised at how I guessed that on the spot. "Man, you're a lot smarter than I been left to believe." Chris said, starstruck at my intelligence. "Remind us not to underestimate you, Lilly." Sam said, just as surprised as he was. "You both know it's the company I keep." I say in a smart ass way.

"It's the butterfly effect. You two would've been riding in this car with someone totally different or just with each other. Don't underestimate that." Chris said, pointing his finger at us like an upside down gun. I can relate to that story because I remember how Sam and I first met. It was when I had just moved down from Pennsylvania, and some prick had to be the first one to pick on me. Lucky for me, Sam noticed this and put a stop to this. We became friends that very same day and I couldn't have asked for a friend like her. After that, she introduced me to Josh and his sisters. And that was the same day I got that crush on Josh. It was the best day of my life.


	3. Chapter 3 Jealousy

After about 10 minutes of riding in the cable car, we make it to the other side. But when we get to the door, turns out that the door was locked on the other side. And on the other side, I could see Jessica in a light purple coat with a fur collar on the hood. She seemed to be walking towards us as she happened to hear us walking up. To get her full attention, Sam used her hand to bang on the glass. It scared the hell out of her and she jumped back a bit. "What the hell?!" she spat, seeing us at the door.

"Jessica! Over here!" Sam called as loud as she could. "Hey! Can you let us out?!" I shout to her. From what I could hear, she wondered if we were having some weird stroke or something like that. "Please let us out? Pretty please?" Sam begged. Jess rolls her eyes and goes to unlock the door to let us out. Once the door was opened, I push it open and the three of us walk out.

"Oh my god! For a moment, I thought we were goners. If we were in there for longer than ten minutes, I would've chewed off my own leg." Chris said with sarcasm all in his tone. I just shake my head at what he said and rub the back of my neck. "Aw sick Chris." Sam said. "Yeah, I wouldn't want to be in the middle of that, thank you." I say with a smirk. Chris then proceeds to walk over to Jess and he snatches something out of her hands. "Hey!" Jess yelled. "Chris!" Sam exclaimed. "Is that really necessary?" I say, feeling offended of rummaging through her property. If I can get onto Sam for snooping, I can do the same with Chris. "Give that back Chris!" I say, trying to get that letter from his hands but he holds it in the air so I can't reach it. "Oh that's real mature!" I shout, stretching as far as I could but it was up to no avail.

"My goodness! Seems like someone has a lil' crush on our good friend and dear class president Michael Munroe. Aaand what kind of sizzling erotica might our Jessica be capable of imagining? I wonder..." Chris said sarcastically, seeing what Jessica had possessed. Jessica stood there for a minute before saying, "Mike and Em split. We're together now." "Talk about drama!" Chris scoffed. "You know, I'm pretty sure they'll find a 'special reunion' if you know what I mean." I joke, making air quotation marks. Jess shoots me this offended glare at what I said. "What? I'm just making conversation." I shrug my shoulders.

"Whatever. You three will figure it out eventually." Jess scoffs, waving her hand at us. I shake my head and turn to see Sam checking out the view on our right, hands on her hips. I walk over to her and admire the view as well. "Isn't this nice? You just got to take it in, minus the drama." I tell her, admiring the view as well. "Oh yeah! Sometimes they just forget to stop and take it all in." Sam agreed. As much as we wanted to admire the view that laid in front of us, we had to get to the cabin before we freeze our asses off.

Afterwards, Chris, Sam and I had left Jessica there at the cable cars because she said she was going to meet Mike. Makes me wonder what they were going to do while we were gone. One can only wonder. We make it to the cabin and notice that Matt and Ashley were sitting in front of the cabin. Ashley was sitting on the steps with her arms crossed across her lap. And Matt was looking a bit distant with the rest of us. "Hey Ash. How you doing?" I ask, trying to make small talk with everybody here. She looks up at me with a grin. "Eh, been better. I'm freezing though." she answers, shivering a bit. "You're telling me. I hope Josh gets the door open soon." I respond, looking over to see Josh and Chris catching up. "You know, I'm surprised you haven't hit it off with him. We were kind of hoping you would." Ash said, keeping her voice low. She took notice of how I was looking at Josh. "Oh shut up with that. It's not the right time to do that because of what happened." I said, feeling embarrassed. Ash chuckles at my reaction but she knows what I meant.

"I'll catch up with you later." I tell her, going to Sam all the while waving at Ash. She waved back at me. We're pretty good friends but not as close as Sam and I. Sam was chilling on the gate to get to the ski lodge. "How're they doing?" she asked me. "Ash is doing good but with Matt, something tells me that him and Em got into a fight or something." I shrug, leaning on the gate with my elbows holding me up. "Well, in your words, I shouldn't pry into other people's business." she shrugs her shoulders. "You've learned your lesson already." I grin at her, to which she playfully shoves me. "Oh hush up!" she said while laughing. I too laugh along with her. Soon enough, the laughter dies off before something seemed off, like we were being watched or something like that.

I look behind me and raise my eye brow at the woods behind us. "Everything okay, Lilly?" Sam asked, taking notice. "Uh, yeah. Yeah everything's okay. Let's just focus on having a fun weekend, k?" I say optimistically with a smirk. She smirks back at me; agreeing with me. After while, we walk up to where the front door was with Ashley. We were waiting on Chris to open the door considering it was locked. Then, we hear Chris on the other side making a spooky ghostly sound. "Hi Chris. Very funny." Sam said, not phased by his attempt of trying to scare us. "Aww, how did you know it was me?" he asked. "It's easy to figure you out. Please get the door open." I say, crossing my arms. He then walks from the door. I shivered from how cold it was. Chris better hurry the hell up with opening the door so I could get my stuff unpacked and I can get into bed to warm up.

About 5 minutes later, I could see Chris on the other side with his make shift flamethrower. "Hurry up! We're freezing our buns off out here!" Ashley said impatiently. I couldn't agree more with her on that one. Once he did get the door open, he swings it open and acts as if he's presenting something to us. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week." he said, bowing down. "Okay Mr. Show-off." I say, rolling my eyes. Before he could answer, a baby wolverine happened to run out of the door, scaring the hell out of Chris. Sam, Ashley, and I laughed at his reaction. "Jeez! That thing freaks me out!" Chris sneered. I laughed at how irritated he was. "What was it? Are you okay?" Ashley asked with a chuckle. "Never knew you were such a jumper to every little thing, Chris." I joke, unable to hold in my laughter. "Well, it was a-, a-" he stammered. "Aw, it was just a cute baby wolverine." Sam said in a slight baby voice. Chris was flabbergasted by what Sam said, that a baby wolverine was in fact that big.

"Take it easy bud. You'll be a big boy someday." Josh teased him. Just then, we all walk inside the cabin. To be fair, it was a bit chilly inside but it's better than being out there in the snow. "Home sweet home." Josh said, going over to the fireplace. "Well, sweet isn't exactly the word I'd use." Matt commented. I stretch my arms and release a sigh as we all walk in. "Oh my gosh it feels so good to be inside!" Ashley said, feeling relieved to be out of there. "Hell yeah, but frankly, it still is cold in here. Josh, why not get a fire started huh?" I say, rubbing my clothed arms. I feel my blush at talking with Josh. He nodded at me and winked at me, which made me blush even brighter.

"This place doesn't look any different than before. "Well, of course, no one's been up here lately." I point out, standing next to Sam with my arms crossed. Matt looks at me for a minute before looking away. "You mean with the police up here too?" Ashley wondered. "No, not really." Josh said, getting some wood to start a fire. Just then, both Mike and Jess walk in casually. "What's up party people?" Mike said enthusiastically with his hand raised. "Heeeey!" Jess exclaimed just as enthusiastic as him. Everything seemed to be going okay, that is until Matt takes a look at Mike. "Hey Mike, make yourself at home!" Josh introduced. Well, at least someone is being civil.

"Yeah. Go ahead. Take a load off. Have whatever you want." Matt said, standing up and marching up to Mike in a demanding way. I roll my eyes at what I saw because I kind of knew Matt would get jealous of Mike and Emily seeing each other. "Hey, take it easy cowboy." Mike said, pretending to be offended. "What the hell were you and Emily doing on the trail?" Matt pried, getting my eyes to widen. How did I know that was going to happen? I can't say I'm a psychic, but I guessed that spot on. "What are you talking about?" Mike asked, acting confused. "I saw you two out there, through that telescope." Matt answered, looking pissed. "What? Is it wrong that I just want to say hi to an old friend?" Mike responded, trying to keep Matt from killing him. Matt's pissed off face then faded as he figured out that he overreacted and he apologized to him for being like that.

"For a minute there, I thought we'd have to bring out a net to break this fight up." I whisper, leaning over to Sam. "No kidding. The last thing we need is a ridiculous fight." she whispered back to me. Just then, Emily walks in and sees Mike and Jess snuggling on the couch. "Spoke too soon." I whisper, shaking my head. Emily sneers at this and makes a rude gesture. "Oh my god, that is so gross." she says in a jealous tone, "What're you trying to do, swallow his whole face?" Jess then stands up at what she says. "Excuse me? Did you say something?" she spat back. "Oh I'm sorry, was your sluttiness too loud for you to hear me?" Emily spat back. I pinch the bridge of my nose out of frustration because this is the last thing that I wanted to hear right now. "No one wants in your territory honey." Emily continued to smack talk Jessica. Jessica got in Emily's face this time in an offended way. "Well, sounds to me someone is bitter because they don't make the cut." Jess retorts with her arms crossed. " Yeah. It's all a big cattle call with that dreamboat. Congrats, you're top cow." Emily spat back rudely. "Ohh that's real deep with calling Ms Homecoming a cow." Jess scoffed at her. Okay, this is getting out of hand. Someone's got to break this minuscule cat fight up.

"Okay you two! Knock it off! You two are causing more trouble than the rest of us!" I blurt out, wanting this to stop. Both of them turn to me with angered looks on their faces. "You need to stay out of this, you idiot!" Jess spat back at me. I took a step back in offense. Jeez, so much for trying to break up a fight. Why does she have to be a bitch to me? The two continue to bicker and I just shake my head in disbelief. "I really didn't want to come up here just to hear those two fight like children." I whisper to Sam. "You're not the only one. C'mon, let's head upstairs. I see the need to take a bath." she replies back. Josh had broken up the fight between them just then. After that, Sam and I head upstairs as Mike and Jessica leave the cabin to go god knows where and frankly I don't give a shit where they go because I don't want to be apart of whatever that was down there.

I go into the spare bedroom that Sam and I were going to share considering there's two beds in it. I set my bag on the bed with a swing and begin to open it. It had my phone, some clothes to help me through the weekend, my anxiety medicine because I do have anxiety problems and I have to take medication for it. My phone charger, & my headphones. As I unpacked my stuff, I could hear Josh downstairs. "Hey Sammy! Lil' Brown!" he called, getting me to blush. "What?" Sam called. "Yeah?" I call too. "What're you two doing?" he asked loudly. "I'm just uh... getting into the bath!" Sam called in answer. "Oh well, will Lilly be joining you in it?" Josh teased us.

That made me blush beat red and I chuckle in embarrassment. "Hardy har! Plus, I don't believe she's got the guts." Sam replied. "Oh shut up!" I laugh. I finish unpacking my things and walk out of the bedroom to see Sam walking out of the bathroom. "What's this about joining you for the bath?" I ask in a joking tone, hands on my hips. I give a smirk at what she said. "Oh come on now. You know I'm just teasing ya'. I really wouldn't ask you to join me. Unless ya want to." Sam played, playfully punching me in the shoulder. I chuckle at what she did. "Oh please. It's never gonna happen." I joke. We laugh at what I say. I rub the back of my neck and crack it. "Okay, so what do you say we try to pry the hot water out of Josh?" Sam said to me, walking with me through the corridor. "Yes. We must. Why? It's not working?" I wonder, raising an eyebrow at her. "Tsh, yeah. I don't want to be an icicle so it's a must." she answered me. I nod in reply as we begin to walk down the stairs and the closer we got, the more audible the voices of Josh, Ashley, and Chris could be heard.

Josh was telling both Ashley and Chris about some Ouija Board that Josh has here somewhere. Chris, of course, doesn't believe that they don't to anything but Josh promised that it does and that he did it all the time with someone. "Hey Josh, No hot water's kinda major oversight doncha think...?" Sam said, grinning at him. "Is it because you two are gonna share a bath together because that's just weird if it is." Chris asked. "Hell now we're not sharing that bath okay? Of course, I do love ya Sammy but I'm not sharing the bath with ya." I say with an embarrassed grin. "Believe what you want. But in all seriousness, the boiler's in the basement. Just got to turn it on. As for you two, go and find that spirit board." Josh points to Chris and Ashley. "As for you two, you up for a ride along?" Josh asked. Good god, why was he so cocky yet so smart? That's one of the many reasons that I got a crush on him. And I believe he's catching on with that.

Sam and I follow him down into the basement. But he stops us before we could go in there. "Hey, did you two notice how I gave them a mission together? A little, "Alone Time" would do them some good, don't you guys think?" Josh asked us. I wrinkle my mouth at what he said. We all know that they like each other so he was right to do that. "They are very sweet together. They should really hit it off." Sam said in a flattering tone. "You and me both. As far as we know, he's not going to say how Chris really feels unless someone's holding a gun to his head." I agree, cracking my knuckles. Josh proceeds to grab a flashlight from the drawer so we could see what's in front of us considering it was slightly. "Quite the gesture, Lilly. All they need is a traumatic situation to have them fall into each others arms." Josh said, giving us a two fingered salute before he walked off from us. We all go to the basement and before we even walked in there, Josh held his head and let out a sigh.

"You know, Sam and Lilly..." he began. The tone in his voice made me feel sympathy for him and we walk up to him. "Yes Josh?" Sam said. We stood in front of him and gaze up at him. "I just want to say..." he stammered. I put my hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "It really means a lot that you guys had come back here." he said, looking at both of us. "Josh... we're here for you. Really. Whatever you need. We'll make it through this... together." Sam said supportively. "Yeah Josh... we're not going anywhere. Especially when you need it most." I add with a smile. Josh rubs the back of his neck again. Ever since what happened that year, Sam and I have been supporting him through this because I can't imagine losing a loved one so sudden like that. "I just want us to have a good time... you know." Josh said to us. He then walks off from us. Sam and I exchange looks for a moment before we follow him down into the basement.

"Watch your step you guys." Josh warned as we walk down an old flight of concrete stairs. "Um, I think we can handle some stairs." Sam corrected. "Uh huh." he commented. I roll my eyes at what he said and we make it down the stairs. "Sorry to drag you two down into the bowels." he apologized in a joking tone. "Just get me some hot water and I'll be super fine." Sam sighed, closing her eyes. "Yeah, you should've gotten it on earlier dude." I say, popping my neck. Josh chuckled at my comment. "Well, you two wouldn't want to be alone down here. Unless, you guess being together wouldn't count as being alone." Josh teased us. "Okay, enough of that." I say, with an embarrassed tone. Sam caught on and she too laughed. "On the other hand, this place is kind of creepy." Sam said, observing the place. "Yep, not a place you two would want to be." Josh said, walking ahead of us. She wasn't the only one to feel creeped out by this basement. I've been one to hate basements because of how people finding weird and scary shit down there. So I steer clear of them.

We come to where the boiler was and Sam and I noticed how there wasn't a knob on the boiler door. I inspected the door along with Josh while Sam happened to find a baseball bat that just happened to be sitting by the boiler for some reason. "What's this doing here? Is it yours?" she asks Josh, picking up the bat. Both Josh and I turn to face her. "You bet it's mine. I used to play baseball with my dad all the time. But that was before he got too busy to spare some time with me." he said, taking the bat from her. "Damn, that's got to suck big time. I wouldn't do that with my own kids. If I ever have some that is." I say, crossing my arms. Both of them agreed with me because they know I'm not a workaholic. I love to bide my time with my family and friends as much as possible.

"Weren't I supposed to fix this old man up?" Josh muttered, turning his attention to the boiler. He gives Sam the flashlight that he had with him. "Here, can you hold this so I can see? Lilly, go to the generator over there and press the button when it turns green." he says, opening the boiler door. I nod and go to the generator that was on the right side of the boiler. Needless to say, Josh had to fix it before he gives me the okay to turn it on. Just as I get there, a strange noise lingered in the back of the basement, sending chills up my spine. I turn to look behind me with my eyebrow cocked. Sam heard it too and looked behind her. "Did you hear that?" she asked in concern. "Yeah. That's strange." I reply. "What was what? Shine the light over here so I can see." Josh said, not hearing what Sam and I just heard. I roll my eyes and kept my arms crossed while Josh fixed the boiler.

"Nice one. Okay first things first: we gotta increase the water pressure before we get the boiler fired up." Josh said, standing back up and taking the flashlight back from Sam. "Doesn't sound too complicated." I shrug my shoulders. "That's because it isn't, Lil' Brown. Just press that button when it turns green. Simple." he said, lazily pointing at the button. I turn my attention to the water pressure system and kept my hand up. Once the light turned green, I press down on it and the water pressure heated up, making a loud sound to signify that it was on. I smile in triumph and did a small dance. "Okay, don't get too cocky." Sam said. I chuckle at this. Soon enough, the two of us give Josh a high five to show we accomplished getting Sam her hot water.

Then, Sam and I hear that sound again. Those same chills ran up my spine in hearing it. "Okay, that's just creepy." I say, looking around the basement. "Yeah, that's weird. What the hell was that?" Sam asked, looking behind us. "It could be a lot of things... none of them nice..." Josh teased, trying to scare us. I shove his hand away and felt myself blush again. "Hey quit it." Sam scolded, turning around to face him. "I'm just 'Joshing' ya two." Josh said, making his hand into a upside down gun. "Very funny." I say. Josh chuckled and said, "Oh man, you two were freaked out." I scoff and cross my arms. "We were not scared." Sam protested, sulking down a bit. "You two are as white as a sheet!" he argued. "Don't tell us that you weren't freaked out too, Mr tough guy?" I say, leaning forward some. He jumped back a bit and pretended to be offended. "What? No-" he started, raising his hands up some. "Don't play coy, you too are as white as a sheet." Sam agreed with me. Josh shook his head and laughed at what we said.

"Nah, nah, come on. I been... I been down here enough, this place makes all kinds of sounds. I mean, big old lodge has gotta belch out some times." he protested. I scoff in disbelief because that wasn't a normal sound to anything I've heard before. Sam nudges me barely to get my attention. When I looked at her, there was a smirk on her face. I know that smirk from anywhere. She wants to get Josh back for accusing us that we were scared. I followed along with her impish plan. A look of terror etches on my face as I look at Josh. "Josh... Don't move..." Sam warned, looking past him.

Josh seemed confused at our sudden change of reaction. "What?" he asked. "There's something behind you." I say, pretending to be scared. "Yeah right." he said, tempted to look behind him. "No seriously." Sam insisted, glancing over to me for a second. "We're not kidding, Josh. Just take a look." I ask, looking past him. Slowly but surely, he does look behind him. At that, Sam and I laugh at what we did. "Hah! Gotcha!" Sam gloated. "We punked your ass!" I said, playfully shoving him. He chuckled at that and said, "Alright. You two proved your point." he said, being a sourpuss. Afterwards, we start to head out of the basement. Soon enough, the sound started up again, sending another trail of shivers up my spine. That is really creepy and weird. "Okay, tell us that you heard that too Josh?" Sam said, noticing that the sound got louder. I noticed how it was not a normal sound you'd normal hear in a basement. It concerned me greatly and I held my right arm with my left hand. "What?" he asked in confusion. "Is it just me or does it sound weirdly regular?" Sam asked. "No, that doesn't sound regular." I say, feeling on edge. Sam took notice of how on edge I was.

"Should we see what it is?" Sam wondered, feeling concerned. "Why?" Josh asked, looking at her. We walk down the aisle and the sound increased the further we went down it. I felt unnerved by this and truthfully wanted to get the hell out of there. "Isn't it one of the pipes that might be on the verge of bursting?" Sam wondered. "Unlikely." Josh responded. I look up at the pipes and silently noticed that it wasn't them that were making those noises. "I wouldn't want this place to burn down on my watch if that were the case." I tell them, playing along. We get to another part of it, which was colder than at the entrance. "I'll go check it out." Sam said, heroically. "Why?" Josh asked her. I cock my eyebrow at him. "What's it to you Mr. Fraidyface?" I cockily said. "It could be nothing." he shrugged his shoulders. "Thank you Lilly. He can hold down the fort while I investigate. Care to join me?" she suggested, turning to face them. I hold up my hands as if to look offended. "Nah, it's all yours." I say, taking a step back. She shrugged her shoulders and made a joke of how Josh can hold me if I were to get scared. "Quit it." I scold, blushing again. Josh too was embarrassed at this.

Sam then walks to where the noise was coming from. Suddenly, someone in a monk outfit and hockey mask jumps out from behind a stack of boxes. This legitimately scared the shit out of me and I screamed at this. We all start to run from the strange man while Sam knocked some boxes down to slow the stranger down. I panted heavily as we ran to the basement door. "Oh shit! Shit!" I shout in sheer panic and terror. Sam tries getting the door open by ramming her body to help her open it. She too was in a panic. "Oh come on! Why are these doors locked!?" she screamed, trying to get the door open. My heart was beating out of my chest from how freaked out and scared I was feeling right there. "To keep out strangers!" Josh exclaimed, looking down the staircase. "Are you kidding me right now!?" I exclaimed, my hands shaking. The masked stranger gets to where we were. Just then, the figure starts to talk. "Heeeeey..." it spoke. That's when I realized, it was fucking Chris in that outfit. "What?" I exclaim, trying to catch my breath. "Heeeey!" he said again, raising his hands and making hand movements. "...WHAT THE HELL?!" Sam exclaimed, now pissed at this. He then takes off the mask and the hood. I now felt the urge to punch Chris in the face for pulling that stunt on us.

"Damn it Chris! What the hell is wrong with you?!" I exclaim, clearly pissed now. "You just got monked!" he said, pointing lazily at us. Sam and I glance at each other, she too was pissed at this. "What? Why would you do that?!" she scolded. I tried to get my heart beat to settle down because he did in fact scare the living hell out of me just now. "There's all this cool old movie crap down here. What, was I... was I not supposed to take advantage of the opportunity?" Chris said, holding out his arms as if to present something. My mouth drops in disbelief at what he said. He nearly gave me a damn heart attack! "What? You're kidding me right?! Where you in on this putz?!" Sam exclaimed, shoving Josh. Josh just chuckled at the prank pulled on us. "No, but I wish I was because that was pretty good!" he responded, high fiving Chris. I shake my head at this.

"I so want to punch your face right now." I say, walking out of the room with Sam next to me. "But you gotta admit, that did have a whiff of humor to it." she adds. "Jokemaster!" Chris gloated, walking ahead of us. I shake my head and follow them out of the basement and back into the lounge area. "Look, we said nothing about a joke! Your prank was dumb-" Sam began. "You two totally pissed yourselves!" Josh teased, walking up the stairs. "We were not scared!" I shout, playing in denial. "And that's just gross, okay?" Sam said, protesting. Even though I tried to deny it, I really was scared because of it being so sudden. Ashley then asked what Chris was wearing in a weirded out way.

"You know what? You know what? No! I've just been through enough spooking for one night, okay? I see a hot bath in my crystal ball. So have fun." Sam said, starting to go upstairs. I go with her upstairs but stopped halfway. "Watch out for Josh there! He's quite the schemer!" I say in a creepy way before going upstairs with her. Little did I know, this night would forever haunt me forever...


	4. Chapter 4 Dread

_A few hours had passed on. While Sam took her soothing hot bath, which by the way I didn't join her as Josh and Chris were led to believe, I resigned in the room Sam and I would share and tried to keep myself calm with my music in my ears and I took my anxiety pills. A little bit of Evanescence to calm me doesn't hurt much when one were to feel stressed out. I was still pissed off at that stunt that Chris pulled earlier and I'm surprised at myself that I didn't punch him when he revealed himself. Maybe because my anxiety stopped me. Even Sam wanted to slap him around for that. I could tell she wanted to to slap him so hard that he'll be as red as a tomato from the constant applauded slaps._

 _After a while, a strange feeling washed over me. Like I was being watched by someone. It felt very unpleasant to me and my heart starts to pound from that feeling. I open my eyes and take off my headphones and turned the music off on my phone to look around the room. "Hello?" I call out. The only light that illuminated the room was a bedside lamp that I kept on because it helped me relax. But when I stood up, the bedroom door begun to open. Out of instinct, I grab a bat that just happened to be next to the bed and held it up over the right side of my head, ready to attack whoever was opening the door. But I felt ease when I realized it was only Sam who walked through the door. She was in nothing but a towel, which was wrapped around her body._

 _"Oh god Sam. You scared me." I say, setting the bat down by the bed again. "Sorry about that. Anyway, something weird happened to my clothes. They're gone and did you happen to take them? You are one to pull a prank like this." she asked with a cocked eyebrow and held the towel to keep it from falling off her. I was confused by this because I hadn't left the room since we fixed the boiler in the basement. "No I haven't. I never left the room." I answer, a look of confusion and concern was all over her face. "That's weird because my clothes are missing. If you don't have them then... Who does?" She questions. Her question hit me like a brick and I lost the color in my face. "That is crazy... Should we look for them?" I ask, uncertain of who took her clothes. It marked down to either Josh or Chris because they'd do this to mess with us again._

 _"Yeah. It's probably Chris trying to prank us again." she theorized logically. That's what I was thinking. "Could be. I'll kick his ass this time." I suggested. She nodded in agreement and we walked out of the bedroom. When we walk out, there was candles that was softly lit along with red balloons tied to the railing to the balcony with arrows painted on them. These weren't here before and I felt very unnerved at that. "Okay guys this isn't funny." Sam scolded, walking a step ahead of me. "You guys clearly succeeded at freaking us out so you can come out now." I added, feeling unnerved now. We make it down the flight of stairs to go to the screening room. The further we went down there, the more scared and nervous I was feeling. Sam caught on and quickly grabs my hand to assure me. I squeezed back and we continued down it. "Come out guys! This is bullshit! Stop giving us the silent treatment!" I scold. "Come on! Come out with your hands up!" Sam added just as frustrated as me. The second we walked in the screening room, the door slammed shut with incredible force._

 _It was so loud that it caused both of us to jump clear out of our skin. We both screamed at the sudden sound. I quickly turn around with widened eyes. My breathing started to become erratic and I begin to sweat and shake with fear. "Hello Samantha and Lillian." a deep, raspy voice eerily says through an intercom. Sam and I both look around to find the source of the voice. "Looking for me?" he asked, making my stomach contort. "What the fuck...?" I quiver, squeezing Sam's hand. She squeezed back, showing that she was just as terrified as me. "Oh I don't think you two will have much luck by looking, Samantha and Lillian." that psycho seethed. I couldn't stop shaking and I hyperventilated. Sam clung close to me as we looked around. "What the... What the hell...!" Sam exclaimed. I feared the absolute worst at this point and I felt like vomiting from how scared I was. "You two are going to see what I want you guys to see." the psycho says. I put my free hand on my chest and I grip my long sleeved Wolf shirt and opened jacket._

 _"What the hell's going on?!" Sam exclaimed in sheer terror. Her breathing became just as erratic as mine. "Open your eyes you two beautiful creatures." he said, making me feel sick to my stomach. We turned around to face the screen and what he shows us makes our blood turn to ice. It was of Sam in the bathroom... And me getting into my other set of clothes. "Oh my god... " Sam gasps in horror. "You... You... Fucking..." I stammer in fear. "They're quite beautiful aren't they? Two bathing birds..." the psycho says. I felt like throwing up from how violated we were. "What the fuck... Fuck..." I quiver. What does this creep want with us? Sam began to hyperventilate at this horrific discovery. "Why... why are you showing this to us...?" Sam asked in panic and confusion. "Why are you two watching?" the psycho spat back. I couldn't take this anymore... this was getting to be too much for me and I squeezed onto Sam's hand. "Sam, we got to get the hell out of here!" I cried out, sheer terror in my voice. Before she could answer me, a sudden sound from the screen and I almost thrquicspo jut what that fucking psycho was showing us next._

 _"JOSH!" Sam and I cry out. Josh was getting ripped apart by this huge saw blade! We let out a horrified scream when we saw this. "OH MY GOD! WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Sam shouted in anger and horror, backing up a few steps. "YOU MONSTER!" I scream, trying not to vomit. My blood had turned to ice when I saw that disgusting clip... That fucking monster killed Josh... he's dead...! What the fuck did he do to deserve that?! My breathing turned ragged and rapid as I looked around the room in terror. "I'm going to give you two 10 seconds." he creepily said, starting to count backwards. "No... no no no no!" Sam cried, her voice full of fear. "Please god no!" I shout, my entire body shaking and my heart was pounding so hard that I couldn't breathe._

 _Just then, the doors swing open, making our skin drain color. Standing in the doorway sent my stomach in a frenzy, it was a man that was about 6 foot tall with dirty overalls and a scary skull like mask with black hair sticking out of it. "Sam. Lilly." the Psycho speaks, tilting his head to the right. I noticed he was holding a needle in his right hand. "Oh my god... RUN!" Sam cried, pulling me across the screening room. I panted heavily and in panic with wide eyes as we ran as fast as we could. The psycho's heavy footsteps were closing in on us rather quickly and that only made us feel more scared than we already were. I constantly looked behind us to see him right behind us._

 _"Shit shit shit!" I shout as we run into the guest room. Sam quickly shuts the door but it doesn't last long because the psycho kicks it down with incredible force. "Go! Go!" I cry as we hop over the bed and dart to the right to go into the basement. When we make it, the two of us quickly hide behind a shelf so he wouldn't find us. I had to hold my mouth shut to keep myself from breathing so heavily. Sam was pressed to my side and she held my hand so tightly out of fear and I squeezed back. I turn my head to see where the psycho was from a side glance. I could hear the sound of my own heart pounding in my chest and I had to hold it with my other hand with my fingers coiled in my shirt and coat. Then, he was in the room with us, walking around to look for us. His heavy footsteps made me feel more petrified with each step._

 _"Sam? Lilly? Why are you hiding?" the psycho seethed. His raspy voice made my skin crawl with fright. Sam and I held our breaths as tight as we could. Words couldn't express how equally terrified we were. If we had to give the devil a voice and face... this would have to be the devil hunting us down like we were it's prey. "Why prolong the inevitable? You both realize I can smell you two right? I can smell your fear." he seethed, walking right by us without noticing us and standing at the entrance. Sam's fingernails were digging into my skin. It hurt but that was the last thing I was worried about right now. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that baseball bat that Sam found while were down here last time._

 _I turn to face Sam, her eyes were full of fear. She looked back at me. Without a word, I rotated my head to say that we could use the bat to hit this psycho over the head to give us enough time to get away. She nodded and followed along with my plan. As we tiptoed quietly to reach the baseball bat. But he seemed to hear us and he quickly turned to face us. "The doctor will see you two now." the psycho seethed, stomping towards us. "Shit! Run!" Sam shouted, once again pulling me in a sprint. But I suddenly felt myself getting ripped away from Sam's grasp. "AHH! FUCK!" I scream, fighting off the psycho as he tried to stick me with the needle. He held me with his arm around my neck in a choke hold. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sam coming at us with that bat and she uses all her strength and stamina to hit the bastard over the head. "DON'T TOUCH HER!" Sam shouts as she swings with all her might. Once the impact was made, the psycho dropped me onto the concrete floor._

 _In coughing fits, I manage to get up. The two of us bolt away from the psycho as fast as we could as he coiled from the impact of the bat. My breathing was ragged and rough from how hard he squeezed on my throat. We run through the cellar as fast as we could before we come to another door that seemed to be stuck. With adrenaline rushing through our veins, we use our strength to force the door open. But once we got the door open, Sam and I suddenly fall on the other side. I yell out in shock from the height and the landing hurt like hell. I groan from the pain and held my head. There was something warm on my forehead. It didn't take me to realize that it was blood._

 _I hear Sam groan in pain as well. When I glanced over, the cut on her head had reopened. We both cut our heads open and I feel blood stain the left side of my face. "Sam, are you okay?!" I quickly ask in concern. She groaned and looked at me. "Yeah, I'm fine! You're hurt too!" She exclaimed. "I know... Cmon, that fucker's still after us!" I say, looking up at the doorway. Sam agreed and quickly got to her feet with the wood moving under her. She then turns to me and quickly helped me to my feet and I felt dizzy when I stood up. She kept my arm around her shoulders and we went through another room but I couldn't tell where were going._

 _Sam tells me that there was an abandoned elevator on our right. I shake my head and some of the dizziness went away. I look behind us and felt that he was coming. I quickly jump down the elevator and Sam joins me, pressed up against me. My heart jumped out of my chest with how scared I felt at that moment in time. Sam clung onto my hand so tight that it was close to breaking my hand._

 _He then was there... Standing above us..._

 _"Found you two!" He shouted, finding us instantly. I scream at the top of my lungs as he lunges for us. Sam was grabbed by him and she shouted from the man's grasp. I put up a fight to protect her like she protected me. She shouted in terror and I tried to punch the psycho many times. However, he grabbed my right wrist with the hardest grip ever and he twists my wrist so hard that I felt it break under his grasp. The pain... I can't describe how bad I wanted to scream at that point from how bad it felt. I even hear it crack loudly in my ears._

 _"AAAGH!" I screamed as loud as I could from the pain. Sam at this point was unconscious and she had been drugged... She laid on the floor on the dirty floor, her dark blonde hair getting the dirt in it. "Live and learn!" He shouted before I see his fist suddenly collide with my face. Everything turned white and then black._


	5. Chapter 5 Psychosis

It seems like hours before I woke up. I groan from the pounding in my head and I opened my eyes to find my vision blurred. With a grunt, I use my hands to push myself up to sit up. However I had forgotten about my right wrist and the second I touch the floor, a lightening volt of seering pain suddenly runs up my arm, causing me to exclaim loudly from the pain and I jolted back in reaction. I grit my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut from how bad it hurt. When I looked down with heavy breaths, my wrist bone was sticking out of the skin and blood oozed out. This was hands down the worst pain I have felt in my life... I knew I had to fix this because it would get infected.

Besides having a broken wrist, I notice the psycho had taken off with Sam. I was alone by the elevator. A lot of questions ran through my mind along the lines of, Why didn't he take me too or what is happening to Sam because he took her? Did I betray her by not saving her in time? That thought alone made me feel so horrible... I had to find her and fast! With all the strength I had, I sickly push myself up to my feet with my broken wrist against my chest in short, pained breaths. I stumbled around the empty, and narrow hallway that could lead me out of there. With my other hand, I held myself up to keep myself from falling over. My head was also on fire because of my head being apparently cut open; my blood was caked against my skin. Even my left eye hurt like hell... I could barely open it without it burning.

I turn to another room and notice how there was something that I could fix my wrist. It needed to be fixed then I had to find Sam. She could be hurt... I can't lose her like we lost Josh, Hannah and Beth... I go into the room and ended up falling on the old table that was in the room, and it hurt like hell. I yelled out at the immense pain and slammed my other fist on the table with a loud boom. "SHIT!" I cursed through my gritted teeth. I panted heavily as nausea slowly started to sink in. "Got to fix this..." I panted, straightening myself up. I had taken some classes in high school about medical things on broken bones and things like that. I needed to get this fixed before it gets infected since I don't know how long it had been since I got knocked out by that psycho. Then, I grab hold of my hand and I whimper from the pain. "Oh fuck, fuck, fuck...!" I exclaimed through my gritted teeth just from touching my hand. The churning in my stomach increased and tears filled my eyes.

This next part was what made me feel like I was being stabbed multiple times in my stomach... I fixed my wrist with a single twist and a crack was audible in my ears. "AGH! OH MY GOD! OWWWW!" I screamed in immense pain as I feel tears run down my face. Hyperventilating, I fell on the floor on my hands and knees and started to heave. It hurt so much that I was on the verge of throwing up. And that's what happened the more I heaved. The pain was too intense for me to handle at that point.

I had to get out of there... I had to do it for Sam's sake. That makes the adrenaline rush kick in and I push myself up to my feet. I use some bandages to help keep my wrist splint that I found in here. Once I got it tightened, I held it against my chest and moved out of that room. The air around me was freezing the further I went down the hallway. The air blowing around me was getting colder the further I went down the corridor and I shivered, goosebumps running up my spine.

"Sam... Sam... Where are you?" I call out through the pain in my wrist and head. There was no response except for my own voice, which bounced off the walls of the chipping corridor. But I thought I was right on being alone in here; that's until I hear a familiar voice call my name from the end of the corridor, getting me to perk up. It was a man's voice. Mike's voice... How was he here? However that didn't matter, I needed to see him and see if he is alright and see if that psycho had done anything to him. "Mike? Is that you?" I call, moving faster. When I could see him, he had a storm latern in his left hand along with a bloody machete. He looked so beaten up with a few bruises on his face and he looked to have a bloody lip. "Oh god Mike... I'm so glad to see you..." I breathe as I stumbled to get to him. Mike noticed how much I want trying to get to him. "Take it easy there Lilly. You're not looking too good..." he said, coming to my aid. "You're no better... You look like you've been through hell." I comment before noticing that two of his fingers on his left hand were gone...

"Jesus Mike... Where's your fingers?" I wonder, looking up at him. They were wrapped up in bandages and blood was seeping through them. "Be happy you got yours... What happened to your wrist?" he asked, noticing my bloody wrist. "Don't worry about this right now... I'll explain later... Sam's missing. She... She was with me and someone attacked us. He knocked me out before he took her and I don't know what happened to her. I'm worried..." I tell him as we walked down the corridor. He walks a little ahead of me and looked around as if to find an exit. "Don't worry. We'll find her. I'm sure she can't be far." he answered, looking back at me. I keep my splinted wrist close to my chest and tried to keep myself from passing out. And then, I could swear I heard Sam cry out for help. It made me perk up. "That's her! She's here! Cmon..." I say, moving past Mike. Mike ran with me and we eventually found another room with another door. "Mike, can you get that door open?" I ask, looking around the room. "Good thinking." he nodded. As he looked, I find a chair to sit on because I was feeling sick and I noticed how my skin was starting to become pale.

"Lilly? Lilly is that you?" Sam said, getting me to open my eyes. My breathing was ragged and my eyes panned around the to see a small passage way that I didn't see when we came in here. Mike heard Sam's voice too and he goes to the passage way.  
As much as I wanted to stand, I felt like I was going to pass out. "Sam? Hey!" Mike called, getting Sam's attention. I could hear the loud scrapping sound of her using her whole weight on a chair that she seemed to be tied to and Mike got her out of there. I pushed myself up to my feet and kept my wrist pressed up against my chest, which now had a dark red blood stain on it.

Once I got over there, Sam had gotten her ankles freed and I held myself up with my other hand. She bent down to where we were. "Oh my god. Lilly are you okay?!" she asked in a worried voice. "My wrist is broken... I splinted it myself." I responded, looking at her. "How did you two find me?" Sam asked curiously. "I found him... After I fixed my wrist... Fucking hell it hurt..." I said, gritting my teeth. "It's alright now Lilly... We'll have a look at it." she comforted. My wrist still hurt like hell and I think it would be best if someone else does the splitting for me.

"Listen, there's some fucking maniac up here on the mountain and he lives in these web tunnels or something like that then I ran into Lilly and then we found you." Mike mentioned to us, keeping his voice low. My breath caught in my throat at what Mike said. He too knows about this pshycopath. But the only question is, how did he know about him? "Listen, this guy you're talking about... He attacked Lilly and I. He showed us these horrid videos, one of them of Josh being killed... Just ripped apart by this huge fucking sawblade..." Sam explained, sounding like she's on the verge of tears. I looked down for just a moment and looked at my wrist, it seemed to get worse by the second. "Jesus Christ...!" Mike exclaimed in disbelief. "That fucker is the one who broke my wrist and gave me this black eye..." I tell them, feeling my wrist and head throb.

"Shit..." Sam gasps in shock. "What the fuck's going on around here...? Listen, this door won't open. Can you open it from your side?" Mike asked. I started to feel nauseous again therefore I go back to the chair I was sitting on earlier. My eyes closed and my breathing was raspy because I was apparently losing blood still. I didn't hear the door open because I was considering I don't think this is splinted corrected. I didn't see Sam unlock the door because of how dizzy I felt. "Lilly, Lilly! Are you okay?! Look at me!" Sam cried as she crouched down in front me. Mike joined us and looked just as worried as Sam was. "I'm okay... Just my wrist..." I responded, looking down at my wrist. Sam took a look at it and tried to hold it. All I did was cry out in pain and she recoiled back. "Holy shit this looks really bad... This needs to be re-splinted. You think you can hang in there until then?" Sam asked, her hands holding onto my other one. I nod in confidence and smile at her.

She smiled back at me and stood up with her backpack and goes over to an old bookshelf that she could change behind. "What're you doing?" Mike asked, observing on what she was doing. "Well, a towel isn't exactly the best thing to wear when fighting off killers. So if you wouldn't mind..." she said, twirling her finger to signal him to turn around, to which he does with his back facing her. She changes into her joggers outfit that she would normally wear whenever we would go on a hiking trip or something. "Okay, time to put this to sleep." she said, coming over to me to help me stand up. I watch as she takes my good arm and throws it over her shoulders. In a second, she hoists me up to my feet and I stood up. "You good?" she asked me. "Yeah, for now. Let's get the hell out of here." I answer, not wanting to stay there any longer. "Amen to that." Mike agreed. And with that, we all leave that room.

"Please!" a voice cried from an adjacent room, getting our attention. "What was that?" Sam wondered. I lift my head up and look around to hear closely. "Was that crying?" Mike asked, also concerned. "I can't decide! I can't!" another voice cried out, a male voice. "It's Chris and Ashley! They're in trouble!" I exclaim, recognizing the voices. We follow the voices and Mike forces open a locked door with his full weight. It crashed open and the first thing we see is Chris and Ashley strapped down to chairs sitting in front of a table. We run to their sides and I take notice that Chris had a gun in his right hand, his free hand. Then, the psycho appeared from the darkness to my right. Fear started to sink in as he appeared and it didn't go unnoticed. Sam stood in front of me in a protective manner. "Noo! No, get away!" Ashley sobbed with terror. She was just as petrified of this guy as I was. Out of instinct, Chris lifted the gun and fired three bullets into the psycho. However, the bullets didn't penetrate the psycho.

"Oh Chris. Oh, Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris." the psycho laughed, walking around us so that he was on the other side of us. "What the fuck?!" Chris exclaimed in confusion. The psycho held out his arms and they started to reach for his mask. "You've heard of blanks before. I mean really?" he said, starting to take off his mask. And who was under that mask made my blood turn into ice and I lost all the color to my skin. There... in the flesh of the psycho under that pale light... was Josh...


	6. Chapter 6 Violence

I couldn't breathe nor think at that point. Josh had been alive this whole fucking time... He's the one who broke my wrist and gave both Ashley and I a black eye. "Josh?!" Chris exclaimed in shock. "What the literal fuck, Josh?!" I shout, feeling sick to my stomach. "Josh?!" Sam shouted. All he did was laugh at our reactions and he clapped his hands together in excitement. "Good, good, good! Every one of you got my name! And after all you been through! How does it feel huh?! Especially you Lilly! You felt most of it!" he laughed. I felt sick that he would even say that... "Fuck you..." I say, glaring at him with hate in my eyes. I held my wrist close my chest. Mike and Sam untied Chris and Ashley from the chairs. "Right? How does it feel? Do you enjoy feeling terrorized? Humiliated? I mean, panicked? All those emotions that my sisters got to feel once one year ago! Only guess what? They didn't get to laugh it off! No! Nope! No no no! They're gone!" Josh continued to laugh all the while doing a little dance.

"I don't know if you've noticed this, Josh, but none of us are laughing! You broke Lilly's wrist so she's definitely not laughing!" Mike scolded him. "Oh come, come-come-come-come. Why the long faces? Come on! It's good to get the heart racing every now and then, right? And race they did, I mean, every one of you, just pitter-pat, pitter-pat! I hope you appreciated my little phantasmagorical spectacle!" Josh replied, trying to defend himself so stale like. He continued to tell of his fiendish fucked up plan. I'm guessing breaking a part of my body was also planned for this fucked up prank... Scaring the absolute shit out of Sam and I, Ashley, and Chris... how the fuck is that funny?!

"Josh... why are you doing this?" Sam questioned, standing next to me and Ashley. "Don't even ask this squirrely little runt. He's got no clue. He's out of his fucking tree." Josh retorted, crossing his arms. "More like off his meds." Chris commented. "What? Come on, you guys are all going to thank me when you guys become internet sensations!" Josh announced, making me feel sick once again. It turned from sickness to rage and I glare at Josh. "How the fuck is breaking my wrist, scaring the shit out of all of us going to make us sensations you fucking psycho?!" I snap, getting a shocked response from almost everyone from in here. "Oh you better believe this little puppy is going viral ladies and germs. I mean we got unrequited love. We got... we got blood! I don't think there's enough hard drives in China to count all the view we're gonna get, you guys." Josh responded, not phased by my outburst. If my wrist wasn't broken I would use it to punch in his fucking face right about now. He did this just for not only revenge but to get internet famous. That's really fucking depraved of him...

"What are you talking about you asshat?! Jessica's fucking dead!" Mike exclaimed. My heart jumped into my throat at what I just heard and Mike begins to walk slowly to Josh. "What?" Josh said in confusion. "You heard me. Jessica's dead. AND YOU'RE GOING FUCKING PAY YOU DICK!" Mike angrily shouted, hitting Josh over the head with the gun with a hard hit. Josh falls to the floor unconscious with a loud thud. I didn't want to see him right now... especially since I now know he was the one who broke my wrist and terrorized us...

Afterwards, Chris and Mike had gone to deal with Josh and his fucked up shenanigans. In the meantime, Sam, Ashley, and I resorted back in the lodge in the ski cabin. Sam said that she would help me re-fix my wrist which by the way I'm not ready for because it was hell for me when I did it. I sit down on the couch with Sam and Ashley and felt chills run up my spin from how cold it was in there. "How did this happen to you?" both of them wondered. Sam couldn't vouch for that because she was unconscious when it happened. "I was trying to protect you Sam... He grabbed it and... Jesus it hurt..." I responded, feeling sick to my stomach. They were both horrified at this. "I'm sure Mike and Chris and giving them a piece of their minds. He didn't have any right to do any of what he did even if he was on his meds." Sam said, looking at my wrist. Her holding onto it hurt so badly and I whimpered out from the pain. "Oh my god... I can't imagine how painful that must be..." Ashley said, feeling sympathy for my broken wrist. "You have no idea..." I respond, shaking my head a bit. Sam continued to observe my wrist and she removed the cloth I was using for it. Ashley does have a weak stomach so she stood up the second my wrist was revealed. "Holy shit!" she exclaimed. Sam knew what had to be done. She looked at me in a reassuring way. "It'll be over before you know it... I promise." she assured me, putting her other hand in my free hand. I squeeze on and closed my eyes and prepared myself for the pain.

With one swift motion, Sam pulled on my wrist with a hard pull. It was so painful that I cried out bloody murder and instantly felt sick to my stomach. It hurt so much that I could see stars in front of my eyes. My heart beat started to slow down and the sounds around me started to distort. "Li... Lilly? Lilly say something!" Sam's voice echoed in my ears. "Lilly?!" Ashley cried out in panic as darkness took me. I don't know how long I had been out but in my head I did see a few things along the lines of us getting rescued by the police and we were home again. If only I wish this was reality... In waking up, my head hurt like hell. And I seemed to lay on something soft. I moaned from how drowsy I was. "You okay, Lilly?" Sam's voice echoed in my ear. When I opened my eyes, I found that I was using Sam's lap as a pillow and she was stroking my hair back behind my head. "Ohhh... shit..." I groan, holding my head with my other hand. "How're you feeling?" Ashley asked, sitting on my right side. "My head is killing me... shit..." I say, looking down at my wrist. It was splinted correctly and there was something on it to hold it in place.

"It shouldn't hurt anymore." Sam comforted, her hand on my back. I inspect it closely and slowly begin to remember that it was Josh, the guy that I had a crush on for the past 5 years, had actually physically hurt me and scared the absolute hell out of us... It upsets me that he would even do that. "How could he do this? Why would he do this? I thought we were here to help him get through the loss of his sisters... but instead he really invited us back here for his sick, twisted game." I say, my voice filled with disappointment. They took notice of the tone my voice but went quiet. "Even though he's off his meds, he still didn't have an excuse to do what he did. But I know that Mike and Chris are dealing with him." Sam assured, hearing how upset I was. "This is hands down the most dumb and hurtful thing that Josh has ever done." Ashley proclaimed. Before we knew it, the door opened, and for a moment that scared us but it turned out to be only Chris with a bat in his hand. "Hey, how're you guys doing?" he asked, coming around the couch to where we were. I looked down at my splinted wrist, and moved it around a little. "We're okay, Chris. My wrist doesn't hurt as much anymore. Thanks to Sam over here." I answer, glancing over at Sam. "Don't mention it. But next time, don't fix it yourself. It won't be pretty." Sam said, partly joking yet partly serious. "What did you guys do with Josh since Mike is still with him?" Ashley asked, anxiousness in her voice. "Knocked him out." Chris said, showing no remorse for his actions. He didn't seem to care that he knocked out the guy that he's known since 3rd grade and I honestly I don't blame him for doing so because he hurt us for his stupid prank that he lured us into. "Why did you do that?" Sam asked, her eyebrow furrowed. I looked down with a sigh and see Sam's hand hold mine. It does feel good to have my friends here to comfort me.

"He was talking shit about Jess and you Ashley. Prick deserved it." Chris said, sounded irritated. "Damn right... he does deserve it." I say, standing up from the couch. I walk to the window and stand by it with my arms crossed. My action didn't go unnoticed. Sam approached me and I see her out of the corner of my eye. "Are you okay Lilly?" she asked, standing next to me with a hand on my shoulder. I sigh with disappointment written all over it. "I'm sorry... I'm just disappointed. How could he do this?" I say, shaking my head as I spoke. "I know how you feel right now. I'm just as disappointed as you. He shouldn't have done that to any of us. We just wanted to help him... but it didn't work out and had to use us for his stupid prank." she said, looking down. I know she's just as disappointed and hurt as I am but I had a damn crush on the guy and now since he revealed himself, I don't know if I do anymore. "I hope he'll get what he deserves besides a hit to the head. Even if he wasn't on his meds, he'd still do this." she said, crossing her arms. With a sympathetic look, I turned and hugged her in a comforting way. In response, she hugs me back with wrapped around my waist. I definitely needed a hug after all of that shit we went through.

We pull back and I smile at her warmly. I felt a little bit better knowing I got a hug back from Sam. Suddenly, I hear a blood curdling scream coming from the distance and I froze from how close that it was. "Tell me I'm not the only one who heard that?" I asked, feeling on edge. "No, I heard it too. What the hell was that?" Ashley answered, feeling on edge as well. Just then, the four of us hear Mike walk into the room with that same gun he used to knock Josh out. "You guys hear that?" Mike asked, walking to where we were at. "Yeah we did. But... we don't know who made it." Sam answered. Sam and I walk to the couch and sit down next to Ashley. Just then, there was a loud bang on the back door, scaring us. "Who the fuck could that be?" Mike exclaimed, gripping on the gun. "Jess?" Chris wondered. "No. It can't be Jess." Mike answered, going over to the door. Chris followed him to the back door, holding that wooden post tightly and prepared to hit whoever was on the other side. It scared me because chances are that could be Josh and that he had escaped from whatever trap Chris and Mike had him in. But turned out it wasn't him, but an entirely different person.

Both Chris and Mike were being backed up by a man with a flame thrower that had a false eye. "Alright everyone just calm down. Now go over there. Let me say what I've come to say. I'm here to tell you what you're up against being back here on the mountain. You five should have never returned. I don't understand why considering of what happened last year." the stranger said in a raspy texan type voice. He walks by the fireplace and sets his bag down by it. "Wait, are you talking about Hannah and Beth?" Ashley asked. "But... how would you know about them if you weren't involved?" I asked with a raised eye brow. "Or even responsible?" Sam added. The stranger turned around to face us and he held his hand up to us to tell us to be quiet. "Hold your horses. I don't take kindly to you kids coming up here on my mountain-." the stranger said to us, holding onto his flamethrower. "Hold on, I'm sure the Washington's will be very surprised to hear that." Mike interjected, stepping a few feet ahead. The stranger chuckled at Mike's remark while shaking his head. It was as if he knew his own statement wasn't true.

"You're right. It don't belong to me. It don't belong to the Washington's either. This mountain belongs to the Wendigo." the stranger seethed, keeping his voice low. We were all confused on that word. It is one that I've never heard of before and I don't thing the Washington's have either. "Wait what?" Ashley says, her brow furrowed in confusion. "What is he talking about?" Sam asked, just as confused as Ashley was. "What the hell's a Wendigo?" Mike asked. I shook my head and looked up at Mike. "Let's just hear him out." I say, looking back at the stranger. "Not like we have much of a choice." Mike muttered, crossing his arms. I wanted to see if what he was saying is true or not.

"I'm only going to tell you this once and it doesn't matter to me if you believe me or not. I got reasons that I want to get off my chest." the stranger begins. "See?! I told you! He's guilty as shit! Guilty of something!" Mike interrupts, jumping to conclusions. "Mike, shut up!" Sam scolded. He doesn't need to be jumping to conclusions right away. "Let him explain okay?" I added. I was now intrigued about what this guy was trying to tell us. "There's a curse that dwells on these mountains. Should any man or woman resort to cannibalism the spirit of the wendigo shall be unleashed." the stranger continued, sending a shiver up my spine and I shook a bit. "You're going to want to find somewhere safe." the stranger instructed. "You think the basement will be okay?" Sam suggested, still holding onto my hand. "Great. Go down there. Now. All of you and wait." the stranger said instantly, pointing off towards the door that led to the basement. "For how long?" Sam suggested. We all started to stand up to head down there. "Wait a minute, I left Josh there when I heard that scream." Mike said, stopping all of us. I turned to look at Mike. "Where did you leave him?" the stranger asked, stepping closer to Mike.

"In the shed." Mike answered nervously. Even though he did break my wrist and scare the living hell out of us, he can't be out there especially with whatever the hell is out there. Who knows what that thing is capable of? "We need to go after him." I say with confidence. "Lilly are you crazy?! You'll get killed out there!" Sam said, sounding like she was scolding me. "If she's crazy then so am I. Cause I'm going with you." Chris agreed. "No you guys can't go out there!" Ashley exclaimed, trying to convince us to stay here. "Look, we understand your reasons however Josh can't be up there on his own. I was supposed to be his best friend and I let him down." Chris said, starting to feel guilty. Ashley walked up to him. "No. He let you down. He let all of us down." she said, putting a hand on his shoulders. "I don't care. I'm going to get him. Let's go Lilly." Chris said, urging me to go with him. I look to Sam, who had a worried expression on her face. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. You'll see." I assured her. With that, she hugged me to which I hugged her back. "You better come back in one piece." Sam said as we pull away from the hug. "I will. You can count on Chris and I." I smile at her. She smiles back at me before letting me go. I follow Chris and the stranger to the back to from which the stranger came from.

"The rest of you. Go down to the basement. Don't come out until we're back." the stranger instructed. The two of us keep following the stranger to the back door. "You two don't seem to understand the magnitude of the situation." the stranger says. Chris and I exchange glances with raised eyebrows. "Well, we're going to get Josh, aren't we?" Chris asked in confusion. The stranger turns to face us all the while raising his hand as if to shush us. "No. I'm going to get Josh. You two are going to help me. Do you two understand?" the stranger corrected him, looking from me to him. "Um... sure... I guess." I shrug my shoulders to which Chris agreed with me. "Listen. You two listen to everything I say." he tells us. I didn't want to be babysat but okay whatever he says if it helps us get to Josh faster.

He then proceeds to hand both of us shotguns. They were similar to the one we used at the shooting range. "This is the end where you point to the thing you want to kill." the stranger tells Chris like he was dumb or something. I know he's not exactly the best shot however I watched him fire that gun and they were legit. "I know how to use a shotgun man." Chris said, firmly holding the shotgun in his hands. I now how to use one too. "No you don't. This young lady is better at it than you are." he said, pointing at me. This confused me. How did he know I'm a good shot with a shotgun and that Chris is terrible at it? "Wait, how do you know?" Chris questioned, to which the stranger smiles. "Trust me. I know." was all he said. Before Chris could walk out of the lodge, Ashley comes to where we were. I had stepped out and forgot how freezing it was compared to what it was on the inside. When Chris stepped outside with us, Ashley closes the door behind us. "Okay, so tell us. Since you're the big expert on these "things", what's there to know about them?" I asked, walking down the slightly frozen steps that were covered with fresh snow. "You two got to be careful. Just follow my lead." the stranger replied, taking charge of this whole operation. We started to take the trail that Chris and Mike used to take Josh to that shed and the wind blew past us and I shivered.

"So how many times do we shoot it before it's dead?" Chris wondered, stepping a bit ahead of me. "You two would be shooting a long time." the stranger answered, still looking forward. I perk up at what he said. "So, these things won't kill it?!" I question, slightly confused. "No but the shots will slow it down. It's fire you use to kill it with." the stranger answered casually. "I don't like fire." Chris pointed out but it fell on deaf ears. "They fear it... and it can kill them if you have to. Their skin is like tough armor unless it's burnt off." the stranger told us. It took me a minute to progress how these things worked. So if we use fire, it can be killed easily? "That's gross. So what are these things like? Are they unpredictable or can you figure out what they can do?" Chris asked. We continued to walk and I could faintly see that shed the Mike was talking about. "They adhere in patterns like in most humans and animals. And they hunt only at night." the stranger answered, sending an uncomfortable feeling through me. "Oh that's comforting. So what other helpful tips do you have for us that we should be aware of?" I ask, gripping my shotgun tight in my freezing hands. "They can't see you if you're standing still. Sight is based on changing movement in their field of vision." the stranger informs, looking to give every bit of detail about these things as he possibly could.

"So we're basically invisible if we don't move?" Chris wondered. "Well, I wouldn't recommend testing it out. Unless there's no other choice." the stranger partly joked. "So these Wendigo's, are they still human somewhere in there? Like any sort of aspect?" I wonder, feeling my fingers starting to freeze. "They retain certain things." he vaguely said. I look at Chris for a moment before looking back ahead of me. These things sound really complex and I can't make sense on this. "So would it be right to kill them? Or is there a cure for it?" Chris wondered. That I have my doubts on because I don't think a thing like this could be cured. "They surrender their human rights the minute they eat each other. There's no cure nor redemption." the stranger said, proving my theory to be right. We then make it to the shed and we thought Josh was supposed to be here but all we found was a broken stool and him not there.

"Chris, wasn't Josh supposed to be here?" I question, going on the right side of the stool, staring down at it. Chris was frantic and circled the stool slightly. "He's gone! Damn it! We're too late!" Chris exclaimed. The stranger looked outside of the doors and urged him to be quiet. "Be quiet! We got to go. Now!" the stranger urged. "What about Josh? We can't leave him there!" I exclaim, suddenly feeling unnerved by the fact that Josh is gone and that the wendigo got a hold of him. "Ha! First the wendigo will render you immobile. And then he strips the skin off your entire body piece by piece. And then he keeps you alive so he can feast on your organs, one piece at a time." the stranger tells us, keeping his voice low. He wasn't making me feel any better with this situation. Swallowing, I say, "So, back to the lodge huh?" Now that Josh is missing, I don't want to be out here any longer. "It might be near. Let's go." the stranger said, heading back outside. I just want to get back to the lodge where I know I'll be safe. We step outside and the stranger suddenly tells us to stand still.

I lock up all the muscles in my body so that I was as still as a statue. I held my breath and I suddenly felt very scared. There were sounds around us; screeching sounds. It sent shivers up my spine the second I heard it. Suddenly, Chris steps on a twig by mistake and we suddenly started to run. "GO! RUN! RUN!" the stranger suddenly screams. I begin to panic and started to run, however, one of those wendigo things suddenly appeared. The stranger fired it's flamethower at it and it bounced to another tree. It seemed to be tall, and frail looking. It was very fast in movement and I jumped out of my skin when it passed by us. "HOLY SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK?!" Chris exclaimed. "What the fuck is that?!" I scream, jumping back out of fright. The wendigo seemed to bounce from one tree to another in trying to avoid the fire.

I pulled Chris away from where the wendigo was in instinct. Suddenly, I see the wendigo lunge directly at the stranger with one of it's long limbs outstretched and I hear a sound come from the strangers throat and... and blood. The stranger yelled out in pain and shock. "Oh my god oh my god oh my god!" Chris yelled, holding his shotgun in front of him. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" I yell, seeing the stranger fall to his knees and I almost threw up when... his head fell off right off his shoulders. His blood oozed out instantly, staining the snow to a bright red color. My eyes widen and I felt extremely sick. I actually witnessed someone actually die... "Oh shit..." Chris gasped, in shock as much as I was. Suddenly, that same wendigo was on a rock in front of us and it begun to lunge at us with it's jaws wide open and it's arms extended. Chris takes a shot at it and it gets blown away with a loud blast. "Run! Run!" Chris yells, starting to run. I begin to run as fast as I could through the snow in full panic.

I didn't see a uprooted root in the ground and I ended up tripping over it. "AGH!" I yell out, falling into the cold snow. "Lilly! C'mon!" Chris yelled, coming back for me. Turning around, I see the wendigo start to lunge for me however, I was quick to use my shot gun on it, sending it far away from me. "Oh fuck!" I scream, scurrying to my feet in a quick panic. "C'mon!" Chris shouted, grabbing my sleeve to get me to run. "What the fuck is that?!" I scream, constantly looking behind me to see if there's one behind us. We duck underneath a fallen tree and we go down a cliff and I drop down to my feet swiftly with a grunt. "AGH! Ah shit!" Chris yelled out, now starting to limp. Before I could ask, there was that same wendigo. I raise my shotgun and pull the trigger with a loud blast and it got sent flying back. "Take that, motherfucker!" I exclaim before I help Chris to the door. We found that the door is locked.

"Hey! Let us in! Hurry!" Chris exclaimed, pounding on the door. My heart was beating out of my chest as the fear begun to rise within me. "Hurry! It's right behind us!" I cry out in sheer terror. It's loud screech was getting closer and closer and it made me only more scared. Ashley hears our cry's of terror and quickly comes to open the door. I instantly fall in and scoot away from the door. I hyperventilated heavily and scooted away from the door. Chris flew in and quickly twisted around while still holding his shotgun. "Shut the door! Now!" Chris shouted. Ashley quickly does and as she did so, that same wendigo lunged at the door. "Aah!" Ashley screamed, jumping back from the glass. The wendigo screeched and tried to open the door. I saw it's entire face and I wish I had never done it. There was blood still on it's hand from when it beheaded the stranger. It's face is something that a human's shouldn't be; shrunken face, long teeth, & white bulb like eyes.

"Lilly, what are you doing?! C'mon!" Mike's voice brought me out of my trance. "Lilly! Lilly, stay with me." Mike said, helping me to my feet and my legs felt like noodles. Mike kept his arm around my back to help me walk and we walked down to the basement. When we walked down there, Sam saw us coming down there and she saw how pale I was and how freaked out I was. "Holy shit. What happened?" she asked in concern. I was so shaken up that I couldn't speak and I was constantly swallowing because my throat felt dry. "What the hell happened?" Sam questioned, standing next to me as I sat down on the table with the graphs and maps behind me. I gripped the table with both of my hands tightly and I couldn't look up because I was trying to make sense of what the hell just happened. "Where's the flamethrower guy?" Ashley asked. I breathe heavily and close my eyes and see the stranger getting beheaded again, right in front of my eyes. Chris is just as shaken up as I was.

"He... he uh..." Chris stammered, incapable of getting the word out. "He didn't make it!?" Ashley asked, feeling shocked from this. I felt like getting sick from seeing that... "How did it happen?" Sam asked, clearly worried about what happened. "He... he got torn apart... right in front of us... by that thing..." I mutter, feeling like I'm reliving that horrific sight while seeing a wendigo chasing us. "Oh my god..." Sam gasped, sitting on my right side. I went quiet and kept looking down and still kept my eyes to the ground. In the meantime, Mike was looking at a map or something. It seemed that he was trying to figure out what the hell is going on and how the hell we were going to get out of here. Just seeing that guy alone get killed sent shivers up my spine as well as knowing the scary knowledge of what those things are capable of... "Alright. These are the doors?" Mike said, still observing the map. I glance at him sideways and turn my head to face him. "Yeah. I think so." Sam said, looking over at him all the while having her arm over my shoulder to provide comfort. "What... what are you looking for?" I ask quietly, examining the map from where I sat. "Another way out Lilly." Mike answered, looking at me. "I don't know about this Mike. Maybe we should stay here until dawn. At least we're safe down here." Sam suggested. Mike turned to look at her with a look of disapproval.

"Oh and what? Let that thing rip us apart like we're little Christmas presents that you get on Christmas morning?" Mike said, sounding frustrated. "Mike, people will come for us. In the morning..." I say, doing my best to calm him down. I, for one, am skeptical that there isn't going to be help considering Em and Matt have not yet come back from whatever the hell they're doing. "You guys can wait. I'm leaving." Mike said, heading towards the door. "But there's no key for the cable car." I say, feeling the urge to go with him. "Josh. He's got to have it. I'm gonna get it and get us all the hell out of here." Mike proclaimed, turning around to walk out. I jumped off the table suddenly and got a hold of his arm to stop him. "Wait, Mike. What if he's dead? What if that thing got a hold of him?" I question, looking up at him with concern in my eyes. All he did was push my hand away. "If that's what happened then we're shit out of luck." he responded, shaking his head. I couldn't help but think that that's possibly the only explanation that it had killed him. But we could be wrong. Mike walked over to the map that he was looking at a moment ago. Sam and I go to where he is.

"Fuck it. I'm going to get that key. I'm going to pull it out of that thing's ***damned door and then we're getting the hell out of here." Mike said, looking observing the map. I noticed how the map looked like it was from the mines back in the earlier days. I don't know what date this is from. "Where did this come from?" I ask, looking at the map with a raised eyebrow. "This was in that old guys bag. He seemed to be very prepared." Sam answered. "You're telling me. This must've been his safe zone from those fucking things." I say, looking up from the map and to the coordinates and pictures on the wall. "A lot of crazy shit happened up there." Mike mentioned, partly not wanting to say what the hell went down. He pointed to where he came from to get here. "This is how I got back here." he told us, "No one leave until I get back. You need to stay safe." I knew Mike couldn't go alone. That fucking thing could still be out there and someone needs to have his back. "Wait, I'm going with you." I tell him, narrowing my eyes. Mike turned back to me and was about to protest.

"Lilly no! You could be killed! You almost died the last time you went out!" Sam said, clearly protesting. She held my arms in order to keep me from going. "Sam, he's not going alone. Last thing we need right now is to lose another one of us by those things. We don't even know if Matt or Em is still alive. Let me do this. I'll come back." I tell her with serious written in it. "Lilly. Oh god please be careful." Ashley said, sounding like she was going to cry. She winded up hugging me to which I hugged back instinctively. I look to Chris as I hugged now both Sam and Ashley. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he didn't want me to go either but I didn't want Mike going on his own especially if those fucking things are still out there waiting for their next meal. When I pulled away, I give them a reassuring smile before turning away from them and going with Mike out of the basement. I hate to say this, but I regret ever following him after that point.


	7. Chapter 7 Despair

Mike and I had traveled down through the basement and I could feel that the temperature was beginning to drop the further we went down the basement. I had my shotgun with me just in case we run into those things. I'm not taking my chances. "Lilly, now that you're with me, you just follow my lead and use your trick shot to blow those fuckers away." Mike instructed, turning to look behind him to look at me. I grin and shiver from the cold. "You know me too well. They won't come within 10 feet of us." I respond, partly joking yet partly majored. We make it to a heavy set of doors and he locked them behind us, which confused me because why bother with that? "Mike, why did you lock that behind us? Don't we need that door to get back to the others?" I asked, watching him lock it while holding my shotgun firmly in my hands. "Yes. We're going back this way however, I don't want them following us." he answered, walking away from the door. I sigh and follow him through a traverse to get to what looks like a chapel. The place, in my eyes, looked very run down and abandoned with debris fallen everywhere, a set of stairs out of use, a couch with a single old table and 90's tv.

It seemed both creepy yet kind of fascinating to look at. I noticed how snow was making its way in here and it was leaving large patches of snow on portions of the worn out tile. "Jesus... what the hell is this place?" I question, looking around the room. "This, I think used to be a chapel. Can't really tell though. But... Ho-lee shit... this place didn't look like this when I left." Mike said, walking around the place. With a furrowed, I walk around while looking around at the decaying building. It was very cold and I constantly shivered when a small gust of wind blew past me. "Huh... what happened to the wolves?" Mike muttered but I was able to hear him. I jerk my head to look at him. "Wait, there's wolves here?" I question him, seeming slightly concerned. Mike looked back at me and walked over to me. "Yeah. That flamethrower guy had two wolves with him that he used for his personal guard dogs or something. And I just happened to make friends with one of them." he told me, holding some shotgun shells in his hand.

He extended his hand and gave me some to put in my shotgun. "You think he's here still? Cause you know I'm a wolf lover and I always wanted to meet one." I say, taking the shells and putting them in my pockets. He gave me at least 10 shells to hold me over. "Alright, over here. Stick close to me because those fuckers could be anywhere. And you and I both know that Sam would never forgive me if I let you get eaten up." Mike said, leading me over to a locked door. I chuckle because of how true that is. "Damn straight. You lead the way." I say, following behind him. He took me to a door with a large heavy duty lock on it. Mike held up his gun to shoot it off however I knew that it would make too much noise and it could attract those wendigos.

I put my right hand on the barrel of the shotgun to stop him from firing it. "Wait Mike. We don't want to draw attention. Let me do it." I say, looking at him. For a moment, he didn't seem to agree but his face changed. "Alright. Be my guest." he said, stepping aside. I smirk before turning my shotgun to where the butt of it was facing downwards. I raise the gun above my head and use all my strength to hit the lock with a grunt and the impact hurt like hell. I grimaced and end up dropping my shotgun to the floor and it clattered on the cracked concrete. "Agh! Shit!" I curse in pain, holding my wrist. "You okay?" Mike asked, in concern. "Note to self, don't do shit like that with a splinted wrist." I partly joke. "Let me do that." he said, slightly pushing me aside so he could do the rest. Turns out the impact I did cut through half way. He cut the rest of it and the lock fell off. He pushed the door open and it creaked open. Just as we walked in, that wolf that Mike was talking about walked from behind some old equipment. "Hey big guy." Mike said in a friendly manner as he bent down to pet the wolf. I stood there for a moment as he did so. The wolf looked at me in a cute way. "Hey there." I say, kneeling down to pet him. The wolf's grey fur felt so soft on my hand and he nuzzled into it with a whine. "See? He's not vicious. Quite the friendly fella." Mike said, standing back up. I chuckle and stand back up while smiling at the wolf. Mike had told the wolf about what we're supposed to do and as to why we're in here to begin with. When Mike was finished, the wolf lifted his head in interest which made me chuckle.

"Couldn't have said it better myself. Atta boy." Mike said breathlessly. The wolf turns around and begin to lead us through the run down and abandoned sanatorium. It felt good to have a wolf on our side. We followed him through the corridor. He seemed to know where he was going and that felt good also. We move through an old fenced door that led in another part of the sanatorium that seemed to lead from what I could read as the Psychiatric Ward. Suddenly, the wolf barks and snarls viciously at something. It started me and I jumped out of my skin. "Whoa! Easy boy!" Mike said, keeping an arm out in front of me as if he were to protect me from whatever the wolf snarled at.

"Whatever that was... it sounded like it was close." I say, feeling a little shaky. "Shit... We need to be careful." he tells me, lowering his arm. The wolf then walked ahead of us again, slightly wagging his fluffy wolf tail as he trotted on the cold stoned ground. We begin to follow him once again off to the right. We kept going until we lost sight of the wolf. "Wolfie, wait up!" I call, not wanting to lose sight of him. That is until the sound of the wolf's whining coming from the right. What he was whining about made my stomach turn greatly. There was another wolf... completely gutted and his head barely on his shoulders and he was hanging on a cage door. It made me feel so sick that I nearly threw up. "Ah... shit. This was the other wolf I saw..." Mike said, shining the light on the dead wolf. I held my stomach and tried to control my breathing. "This is... fucking horrible. I think I'm gonna be sick." I said, clamping my mouth shut. I hated seeing animals get hurt like this and this was too much for me to handle.

"I need a minute. Will you wait up for me Mike?" I asked, seeing the need to take a breather because I can't stand to see this wolf being used as a horrific decoration for those things. "Okay. I won't go anywhere." Mike agreed. I then go into another room and take a breather with my eyes shut. I set my shotgun down on the table and leaned down on the table to catch my breath. Just seeing that dead wolf strung up like that made me feel so sick and I couldn't bear to look at that.

However, once I did catch my breath, I straightened up and picked up my shotgun and I walked out of the room. And I noticed... Mike was gone. Both him and the wolf. He said he'd wait up for me... "Mike! Mike!" I call, walking past the dead wolf and into another part of the sanatorium. I was shaking drastically and my breathing was hard and ragged from how scared I was. The further I went down the aisle, the more cold the temperature got. I shivered and looked around frantically. "This is fucked... why did I decide to do this? Oh god... this has got to be a fucking dream. It's got to be! Mike, I'm gonna beat your ass for this!" I cry, turning into another corner.

I go into what looks like an old office with an old desk, card shelves or something like that. There was also a chair which was laying on the floor on its back, seeming to collect snow and dust. Something caught my eye and I decided to check to see what it was. It was a... suicide note from one of the supposed miners that worked in the mines a long time. I pick up the old paper and inspect it closely. The name written on one side was Jefferson Bragg and "To whom it may concern."

"What the fuck...?" I breathe before turning it over to read the back. It made me feel sad and I read the writing on the back of the paper. "They are dying outside. I hear screaming and crying. This hell is my only legacy. God's punishment for my mistakes. No escaping my fate. Death awaits me now. Jefferson Bragg." "Jesus... This is horrible… Wonder how long you were here for… and how you were… God..." I say, shaking my head as I set the paper down. I knew I had to continue one and find Mike because there's no way he would've left me here and not have realized it. I'm gonna fucking punch him when I do find him.

When I walked out, a blood curdling screech echoed around the hallways, causing me to freeze and clench my fingers around my shotgun, my fingers seeming to freeze around the metal. I kept my index finger wrapped around the trigger, ready to kill anything that startles me. "Fuck... what the fuck...?" I quiver, hearing that screech again. Before I could continue on, my heart suddenly stopped because one of those things suddenly appeared, climbing on the wall like a damn spider. I suddenly froze like a statue in seeing that damn thing. I felt so scared... I was shaking from how scared I was feeling at that moment in time. That wendigo then jumps on the wall that I was leaning on. My breathing was soft yet shaky at the same time because it was closer to where I was. I couldn't take my eyes off of it's abrupt, rapid movements with its limbs was so unnerving and it made me even more terrorized than I already was. My heart was pounding out of my chest and my stomach twisted tightly to the point of me almost vomiting.

The more I stood there, the more I thought I was going to die at this place. I didn't want to become a meal for them. I'm NOT becoming some food resource. " _Dear god please make them go away… I don't want to die tonight..."_ I thought, praying for the first time in a long time. I don't want to die here. I can't here without Sam worrying about me and I don't want her mourning over any of us. I squeeze my eyes shut and relied on my hearing to figure out where the hell they were. Just like I prayed, the wendigo had gone away to a different location. I didn't want to stay there any longer. I've had enough and I took the opportunity to run the fuck out of there. I panted heavily as I bolted the fuck through the corridors. My loud footsteps didn't go unnoticed. There was more loud screeching behind me as I sprinted. While running, the sound of wolfie barking as well as those damn fuckers chasing me through the corridors in their hellish screeches that sent shivers through me.

Just ahead of me, I could see one of those flammable barrels sitting by the doorway and as I run towards it in a heat of adrenaline, I heed what that old guy told me about using fire to my advantage to make those fuckers more vulnerable. It's fire that weakens it and you can kill it afterwards. I quickly raise up my shotgun and pull the trigger, sending that bullet into the barrel, sending me flying out of the building in a gust of wind with a ear piercing BOOM! "AGH!" I scream, hitting the snow face first with a hard hit. I didn't stay on the snowy ground for long as I used my good arm to push myself up. Quickly looking back, I didn't waste any time getting back up to my feet to get the fuck away from that sanatorium. Plus, I prayed that Mike didn't get killed in that explosion but that didn't matter to me anymore because, with the panic and adrenaline that I was feeling at that moment in time I didn't even think twice about going back for him.

I ran through a thick part of the woods and the more I ran, the more I could feel my legs starting to get weaker and weaker. It was getting harder for me to catch my breath and it turned to wheezes. I struggle to keep myself standing and I didn't realize that there was a steep cliff coming up in front of me. The ground was coming incredibly fast and when it made contact with my exhausted body, I let out a shriek of pain because I didn't come out of that fall in one piece. The immense pain in my wrist uproared again and I can't explain how painful it was. Tears welled up in my eyes as I started to move because it hurt so much. When I tried standing up, a shooting pain fired up my right leg and it caused me to fall back down. In looking through my blurred vision to see that my right leg had a long cut on it. The blood coated over the fresh cut.

I had to get the hell out of here because those fuckers are still coming… Even though my leg and wrist hurt like hell, I needed to find Sam and the others. When Mike shows up, if he does, I'm going to fucking kill him for actually leaving me after I told him to wait up for me. After struggling to stand up, the adrenaline that coursed through my veins forced me to start running the hell out of there. The blood was dripping off my leg and onto the snow below my feet and it left a blood trail behind me which didn't help me in the slightest because I know that I would be followed.

In taking a sharp left turn, I bursted through a stray door that resulted in a loud bang out of instinct because the shrill screech of one of those wendigo's was right behind me. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I exclaim, quickly turning to shut the door. I was panicking and the fact my palms was starting to sweat was making it difficult to close it. Then, the full weight of that wendigo pushed against the door with an extremely loud, alerted screech. "No! Go away!" I scream at the top of my lungs as the wendigo forced the door open with all its might. Once it opened, the fucker tackles me to the floor.

I quickly grab a stray piece of metal that was laying on my right side and I used both of my hands to hold it to keep it off me. My breathing had a mix of screaming and sheer panic and terror and my wrist was hurting even more because of the fight I was putting up against this burned up wendigo. "HEY! Get off of her!" the voice of Sam shouted protectively. I turn my head to look up to see Sam bolting towards me to help me. "SAM! Help!" I cry, feeling the full fear of being mauled to death by this thing. Just as fast as that wendigo pounced on me, it was quickly knocked off of me. It's weakened head was easily knocked off it's shoulders and it fell to the side of me. "Lilly! Oh thank god you're alive!" Sam exclaimed, quickly getting down to my level and she helped me sit upright. For a moment, I was shaking so bad that I didn't even see that it was her.

"Lilly, talk to me…" Sam said, grabbing onto my shoulders. I shake my head vigorously as I cleared it in gathering what the fuck just happened. My eyes pan over to a worried Sam; the concerned look in her hazel eyes instantly got to me because it's rare to see her this concerned. I opened my mouth but couldn't find any words to speak. All I could do was hug her with my arms wrapped around her, to which she hugs me back a bit tighter than me. I could tell from her grip that she was very scared that something happened to me because she did see that I left with Mike. When we broke the hug, Sam held me by the arms to help me stand up.

"Where the hell is Mike? You went with him!" she asked me. "He left me. I told him to wait for me… um… because I… something caught my eye and… oh god you have no idea how terrified I was. I had to leave because those fuckers were going to kill me!" I exclaim, feeling my hands shake vigorously. Sam saw how upset I was getting and she winded up hugging me once again. "We got to find him. Those things are still out there and we can't wait any longer." Sam said bluntly, helping me to my feet because she could see how shaky I was. My legs still felt feeble but I was able to stand. "I know… I'm so going to kick his ass for actually leaving me like that." I say, feeling my anger bubble over. "Even when you're freaked out, your badass attitude is still there." Sam partly jokes. I couldn't help but release a slight chuckle because despite me being pissed, my humor is still amazing to her. But I'm still pissed at both myself and Mike because he said he'd wait for me but there was something so glamorous that he had to saunter off to investigate. And I'm outraged at myself because I was too panicked to find him.

"That's a nasty cut there. Can you walk?" she asked, taking notice of the nasty cut on my leg. "I… I think I may need help. Care to escort me?" I joke. She chuckles at my joke and she lifts me up by my arm. "It's my pleasure. How about I carry you down the threshold as well?" she joked, throwing my arm around her shoulders. She held my good wrist so that I wouldn't slip and she wraps her other arm around my waist. "How about after we get out of here?" I respond, getting the both of us to chuckle. As much as it was flattering, that quote un-quote wedding would have to wait until this all blows over. We continue our way through the musty and damp mines. The more we went in, the more unnerved I was feeling. Those wendigoes are still on our asses and possibly behind us. That thought alone, was very, very unpleasant.

We turn to the right and find that a pair of rickety old stairs was there. "You sure that's safe, Sam? I mean, they look rickety as hell." I point out, unsure about those stairs. We stop and she observes it. "If we hurry across them, maybe we'll make it." she said. "With this leg? Yeah, I'll try my luck on that." I say, rolling my eyes. We walked up the stairs as quickly yet carefully as we could. With each step, it made a loud creaking noise that sent shivers through me because I was afraid we'd fall through it. The minute we make it up there, a bunch of boulders fall behind us. "Jesus Christ!" we exclaim, jumping out our skin. We look back to see that set of steps were now gone. Before I could comment on them, a strange sound hits our ears.

"What was that?" Sam wondered, sounding on edge. I look around to figure it out. "Whatever it was, I don't like it. Could be one of those wendigos." I answer, wanting to keep moving. And with that, the two of us kept moving through this mines. Just as we were going upwards, the ground shook from underneath us and it caused the both of us to fall to the concrete ground. The hard impact had hurt my leg and wrist. "Agh! Shit!" I yell out, now feeling the full pain in my leg and wrist combined. "Lilly! Are you okay?" Sam asked, helping me sit up after that rockfall. "Yeah… I'm good. Just wish I wasn't hurt like this. Bet I'd just slow you down." I say to her. "Lilly, I'm getting you the hell out of here. You're not slowing me down in anyway. What kind of friend would I be if I just left you here?" Sam sternly stated, helping me back up the same way she did before. "Okay, okay. You've made your point." I say, smirking. And with that, we continue to where that opening.

"Shit. Looks like we're going to have to jump." Sam suggested. "Are you nuts?! I won't be able to make it!" I exclaim, automatically protesting the moderate jump. "I know, Lilly but we have no choice." Sam said. We back up a few steps before we make the leap. Sam makes it but I almost don't. I was hanging from my fingers and I didn't dare look down below me because I knew it was certain death if I let go. "Sam! Sam, help!" I exclaimed, struggling to hang on because of my splinted wrist making it difficult. "Oh shit! Lilly, grab on!" Sam shouted, quickly turning around and extending a hand down to where I was. I didn't know which one to give her because it would hurt my wrist either way. But without much thought, I give my splinted wrist to Sam and she grabs above the splinted area. With one hoist, she gets me up to the ledge. I panted heavily and look down. She stayed by my side as I caught my breath. "Thanks." I pant, looking up at her. She grins at me for a brief second. "You're welcome. Let's go." she replied, helping me to my feet. She helped me stand with my good ar over her shoulder and her arm around my waist. We continue to move before we hear a noise, causing us to perk up. Could that be Mike fighting his way to get back in here and those wendigos are after him?

"You think that could be…?" I wondered, looking around. "Probably. Mike might've found his way back here. C'mon." Sam urged, now worried. The more we walked on, the stronger I felt that I was able to walk. As much as I appreciated Sam helping me, I figured I could try and walk on my own. "Hey, Sam." I say. "Yeah, what is it?" Sam responded back concerned. "I think I can walk now. You shouldn't have to lug me around." I tell her. "You sure?" she asked, loosening her grip on me. "Yeah. I'm sure. Besides, don't think you can defend yourself if your hanging onto me." I say to her. We stop walking and she stands in front of me, holding me by my shoulders. I put a little pressure on my wounded leg and winced. "Ow…" I groan. "You sure you can walk?" Sam said, still hanging onto my shoulders. "Yeah. Yeah, I can. Even if it's a limp, I can still walk. Once we get out of here, I'll get it treated first thing." I assure her. She smiled at me for a moment. I knew that kind of smile from her. That showed she had complete confidence in me.

Just then, that same sound arose and it bounced off the walls of the mines. Sam quickly picks up a pipe and I wield my shotgun that I had. "Let's go." I tell her, beginning to limp forward. It wasn't a heavy limp but enough to show that my leg still kind of hurt to use. Sam followed right behind. "Mike's still at the sanitorium. Even though I'm scared shitless to go back there, we can't leave him there." I retort, feeling my hands shake from how timorous I was feeling. Sam grabbed a hold of my hand and I glance over at her. "You've got nothing to worry about. I'm here with you okay? Besides, with that shotgun, as handy as you are, it should be easy." she said, being optimistic. "Yeah you're right. Those fuckers don't stand a chance against us." I respond, wielding my gun. And with that, we continue on our way.

Even though my confidence wasn't going through the roof right at that moment, I knew I couldn't let it go because Mike could be dead in the sanitorium. We had to get him out of there so we could get the key together. It took us about 10 minutes to find the front entrance to the Sanitorium. Seeing it again sent chills up my spine but I quickly shook it off. "He's gotta still there." I tell Sam. The snow crunched under our feet as we got closer and closer to the Sanitorium. There was a lip buried in the snow which I didn't see and I trip over it, hurting my injured leg. "Agh!" I yell out, catching myself in the snow. This caught Sam's attention as she was just a couple of steps behind me. "Lilly! Are you okay?" she asked, helping me back up. With a groan, I nod at her. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just tripped over something." I tell her, trying hard for her to not be concerned for me at this point. We needed to be focused on helping Mike.

Just then, we were suddenly started by a wendigo that was chained behind a grilled window. It jumped at the both of us with a loud screech that echoed through the opened area we were in. "Jesus!" I yell out, jumping back a bit. "Holy shit!" Sam exclaimed, jumping back with me. That rush of adrenaline suddenly came back to me. "Mike's got to be inside still! C'mon!" I shout, holding up my gun. Sam didn't argue and she followed me in a run to the back entrance. Once we were in, the first thing we see is Mike being tackled by one of those wendigos. Looks like it had been burned like the one I had been tackled by. "Mike!" Sam and I exclaimed. Sam got in front of me and raised the pipe she picked up before and was ready to hit it. "Over here!" I shout defensively, holding up my shotgun. Sam used all her strength to hit it across the face to stun it and I pulled the trigger to blast it's head off. But it wasn't over there.

"Lilly, look out!" Sam shouted, alerting me. I look off to my right and didn't have time to react when another of those wendigos decided to tackle me to the ground. "SHIT!" I growl, using my gun to hold it off. It was a different wendigo this time. He must've been one of those miners that was trapped here. It tried clawing at my face and it screeched in my face, hurting my ears. Despite having a splinted wrist, the adrenaline that was pumping through my veins was helping me. Sam and Mike saw my distress straight away. "Get off of her, you fucker!" Mike exclaimed, using his gun to shoot it off. Sam first hit the wendigo with that same pipe then Mike shot it off me, long enough to stun it. Sam instinctively helped me to my feet because that wendigo wouldn't stay down long.

"That's it! That's it! Come on let's go!" Mike urged, getting Sam and I to run the way we came with him behind us. "RUN!" he exclaimed, hearing the wendigo that tackled me try to catch us. Just then, I hear Mike's gun go off again and a sudden wave of air sends the three of us flying out of the Sanitorium. I landed face first in the snow once again and push myself up to a sitting position. Looking behind me, I see that the entrance to the sanitorium was in flames. "Got any marshmallow?" Mike said, in a cocky tone. Even though we saved him, I was still mad that he had left me in there for the wendigos to get me.

"Mike, I got to ask, why did you leave me behind knowing that those fucking things were in there?" I ask, my voice on edge. Mike rubbed the back of his neck out of slight embarrassment because he knew I'd ask him about it. "Something had caught my eye. I was hoping you'd be behind me. But when I saw you were gone, I did come back to try to find you but you were already running. Those wendigos were on your ass and you had gotten them away from me for the time being. Thanks for going back actually. I did need the help." Mike said, rubbing the back of his neck. My anger slowly died away when he said that. So I hadn't realized that I had saved him. We all begin to walk back to where I had reunited with Sam after my first wendigo attack. "Sorry I had left you there, Mike. I was so scared to go back." I said truthfully. Mike playfully shoves me. "Don't sweat it. Now c'mon, let's find a way to where this fucker lives." Mike said, not mad about the incident. Now, we had to find Josh and we had to find him now if we want to get out of here alive.


	8. Chapter 8 Resolution

The three of us had continued our way down the mine. Mike and I had discarded our guns considering they didn't have any bullets in them. Sam walked in between Mike and I. Knowing that my leg was still hurting, they kept any eye on me. I kept thinking of where Josh might be and how he has the key card for the cable car. Truthfully, I was a bit anxious to find him because of what he did to us. He was alive because I didn't see any blood where that stool was when Chris and I went out with the stranger. That wendigo hadn't killed him. I shivered through my now torn jacket because the temperature in this mine was dropping quickly and it wasn't helping my injured leg and I was starting to feel nauseated. "Hey, guys. Can we stop a minute?" I ask, seeing the need to sit down for a minute until this wave of nausea passes.

Sam looked at me and saw the nausea show on my face. "Sure. Mike, let's stop." Sam said, finding me a stalagmite stump that stuck from the floor. I sit down and let my headrest in my hands. Sam kneels beside me and had her right hand on my back. "What's wrong, Lilly?" Mike asked, walking up to us. I shook my head in hopes that'll fight off the nausea. "Feeling a little sick. Sorry, if I'm slowing you guys down." I say, swallowing heavily. Sam rubs my back to provide comfort. "You're not slowing us down, Lilly. Seems like that cut's getting to you." Sam said, pointing out the cut on my leg. "Was it when those fucking things was chasing you?" Mike asked, looking down at the cut on my leg. "Yeah… I didn't see a cliff and I fell when I was running." I said. "Now we have another priority. Getting you off this place to get that treated." Mike pointed out. True because this cut on my leg was starting to get to me but we didn't have anything to patch it up right now.

A few more minutes pass before we change the subject. "Hard to believe that thing used to be human." Sam said to us, starting off the conversation. "That one that tackled me earlier might've been that guy who wrote that note that I found." I say, getting their attention. "What note? From of the miners?" Sam asked. "Probably. He was dying down there… it said, 'They're dying outside. I hear screaming and crying. This hell's my only legacy. God has punished me for my mistakes. No escaping my fate. Death awaits me now.' Reading that note made me feel so sick and upset." I said, biting my bottom lip. "Jesus Christ…" Mike said, turning his back to us for a moment. "There was so much weird shit happening up that wouldn't even begin to surprise me." Mike mentioned, getting Sam and I to look up. Did he see more things in the sanitorium while I wasn't there?

"What kind of weird shit?" Sam asked, taking interest in what was in the sanitorium. "Like… what was in there that I missed?" I wondered. "Someone was… capturing the wendigos. Had 'em all tied up in these restraints… Lilly, you didn't see the fucked up shit that I saw." Mike answered. "Wow…" Sam replied quietly. So that wendigo that Sam and I saw earlier was one of those said restrained wendigos. They turned there against their will and they couldn't do anything to prevent it from happening. "I must've let them all out when I blew the place up." Mike said, seeming embarrassed at this. "Smooth move, Einstein." I say, rolling my eyes. Afterwards, I was feeling somewhat better. It was enough for me to start walking again.

I hadn't realized that I had gone ahead of Sam and Mike. It was as if my feet were leading me somewhere that I wasn't expecting to find myself in. They led me to what appears to be a dug up grave in the ground. In the dirt, it looked like there were bones there as well. But… there was also something else that caught my eye. Off to my right was something laying in the dirt. I bent down to pick it up and I inspected it closer. It was a wristwatch. More shockingly… Beth's watch. I backed up a little bit with my mouth covered in shock. "Guys… guys! I found something…" I said, still in shock that I have found Beth's watch. Sam and Mike rush towards me at the sound of my frightened voice. "What is it? Oh god…" Sam asked before noticing what I was holding. She takes ahold of my hand and looks at it. We look at each other in both disbelief and surprise. "This is Beth's watch…" Sam breathed, backing up a bit. Mike caught up with us and saw what we were holding in our hands.

"Let me see…" Mike said, having a look at Beth's watch. The least we could've done is keep it to return to their parents because I've heard people doing things like this. It's the respectful thing to do. "There was even a cross here. Do you guys think this is where Beth was buried?" I asked, trying to put two and two together. Could Hannah have survived that fall and she buried Beth? Who else would've buried her here? That old flamethrower guy? Probably. "Could be but… who would dig her up like that?" Sam questioned, now curious. Mike was trying to put off the truth and told us to keep moving. He took the lead. Sam and I look at each other for a second. We were equally freaked out about finding Beth's grave and trying to find out who in their right mind dig her up. And the fact Beth's watch was just laying there in the dirt proved that she was definitely buried and exhumed.

Afterwhile, we walk up to where Mike was. He was waiting for us by a open space that was filled with water. In inspection, this was our only way to get anywhere. "Okay, who's going first?" I asked, hesitant of going in. Mike was the first to jump in while using his hand to help him down. "Come on, it's okay." he assured. "You sure…?" Sam questioned. "Not dead yet." Mike replied. I scoff before sitting down on the ledge. "Famous last words I must say." I say, pushing myself into the water. The minute my body touched it, I exclaimed out of shock. The water was like ice and the touch felt like a thousand needles poking me all at once. "Fuck, it's freezing!" I shout, finding myself unable to move for a brief second. "I can't feel my fingers." Sam said, getting in as well. We begin to move to move through this ice cold water, our arms raised enough to where the water wouldn't touch it.

"Hadn't we reached the deepest part yet?" I ask, shivering. "Well, I didn't say that. I said it was okay, meaning there isn't any sharks or anything in here." Mike answered. "Sharks. Great. Thank you!" Sam exclaimed. I roll my eyes at this and just follow Mike's lead. We soon come to another part of the mine and I see something laying on the ground that might be worth looking to. "Hey, there's something over there." I say, pointing off to the left where that object was laying. We go in that direction and get ourselves out of the water. The air that consumed this mine didn't make it any better. It was still frigid and I quivered the second that air made contact with my now wet clothes and body.

Sam and I end up finding what I saw from afar in the water. I knelt down and got a good look at it. Sam too knelt down and began to flip through the pages of this makeshift journal. And what was written on those four pages will forever haunt me… "My little sister is dead. The fall killed her… I watched the color drain from her face. My leg is broken. I'm all alone, stuck here with Beth's body. Someone will come soon. I've never been so HUNGRY. My stomach feels like it's twisting around inside. I took Beth's sweater. Much warmer now. She's still looking out for me. I'm sorry Beth… I have no choice. I'm DYING. It's the only way that I can survive anymore. If someone finds this. I'm SORRY. I have no choice. Forgive me Beth. I'm sorry. My hands feel so unclean. My nails fell out. PUSHED OUT. I am aching but no more COLD NO PAIN. I'm getting stronger!" After reading that last page, it made me walk away in shock.

I was starting to feel queasy because of what Hannah had to do in order to survive down here… She had eaten her own sister just to stay alive. And the fact she turned into a wendigo down here sent me chills to the fucking bone. She suffered alone… and in great agony. This wasn't fair for her and it wasn't fair for Beth either. "Oh god… it makes sense…" Sam breathed, putting two and two together. I turn around to face her and Mike. "It was Hannah… she dug Beth up. It has to be." I say, still shaken up. "No, that's ridiculous!" Mike exclaimed, being in denial. "Michael… Michael, it has to be. This is the only thing that make sense… Beth died in the fall." Sam inquired. She did die in the fall from what Hannah was saying in the journal. "So what… what does that mean?" Mike asked, confused on what we were saying. "She was down here for... for…" Sam quavered. Mike was still in denial. But with what was written in here, it was true with every word.

"I don't believe any of this!" Mike shouted. I shook my head and put my hands on my head try to clear it. "Mike, she was starving down here! She was hopeless! She had no choice!" I declare, lowering my hands. "Guys, we need to find Josh. Now." Sam urged, tugging us in the direction to the water. Since I got out of the water, it felt warmer to my body. We continued on with going to find our way to Josh. Coming to another ledge, there was a large metal door. Once we got out, I walked to where Sam was. She took ahold of the knob and barely twisted it.

The second she did that, the door suddenly opened. A large gush of water spills out, knocking all of us to the ground. Water wasn't the only thing that spilled out… It was decapitated heads. Sam screamed at the harrowing sight of them. I, too, was horrified at the sight of them. "Oh fuck! What the fuck?!" I shout, seeing the decapitated heads of the flamethrower guy, Jess's, Matt's head roll out. A sudden wave of heavy nausea struck me like lightening and I went as white as a bedsheet. I heaved at this and quickly went to the side of the ledge and ended up vomiting into the water while holding my stomach. God… I've never felt so horrified in my entire life. I never thought I'd see a dead person, much less their own heads ripped clean off their shoulders. "Oh whoa whoa…" Mike breathed in a terrified way, "J- That's Jess. That's Jess…" Looking back at Jess's head, I noticed that… her bottom jaw was missing. "Oh my god… Oh fu-..." I groan, feeling utterly terrified at this. Sam rushed over to my aid and helps me up to my quivering feet.

We walk over to the now open door that lead into another part of this mine. I wish we had never gone in there. Going in there would be one image that I wish that I could unsee for the rest of my life… Up above us were Jess's, Matt's, Emily's, and the Flamethrower guy's bodies… They were hanging there as if they were ready to be cut up and served to others. "You see this…?" Sam uttered, just as scared as I was. "Bodies… a lot of them…" I quiver, gripping my stomach tightly. It took all I had to not vomit again… "Oh… Oh my god…" Mike gasped, sounding like he was on the verge of throwing up as well. "Noooo…!" Sam cried in disgust. "I'm gonna be sick…" Mike groaned. He then noticed something in between the boards of this horrid place. "Wait a minute… I think I saw something…" he said. The three of us come to the boards of wood boards and we peer through.

"Josh!" Sam exclaimed. I took note that something wasn't right here. He was muttering something that was incoherent, stumbling around while gripping his head as if he was in distress. "What… What's wrong with him?" I question. We find a door that gave us access to him. "I don't take orders from you, you can't tell me what to do anymore!" Josh screamed, still gripping his head. As we inched our way closer to him, I could tell something was definitely wrong with him. Was he seeing something that we weren't? "You can't tell me what to do! Okay… okay… I trust you… I trust you… I trust you…" he said more softly. Soon enough, the three of us were in front of him. He looked so freaked out about something. "What's wrong with him, Mike?" Sam questioned. "He's got to be tripping or something. Josh!" Mike answered, slapping Josh in the face to help bring him back to reality. "M… Mike?" Josh stumbled on his words. "Josh… Hey man-" Mike said calmly. "Don't h-hit me, p-please-" he uttered, shaken up greatly. Seeing him like this honestly made me feel so horrible. Even though he had hurt us, I can forgive him for this.

"You were deep in it, man. Full mental jacket." Mike stated, relieved to have Mike back. I sigh with relief and look at Josh. "For a moment, we didn't think we'd get you back." I say to him. Josh looked at me for a moment as if he regret hurting me the way he did. "Listen Josh… we found out Hannah was alive down here for… over a month… Starving to death. She had dug Beth up!" Sam said thoroughly. Josh did have the right to know what happen to his sisters. Especially after a year after their disappearance. "Let's just get the fuck out of here." Mike urged, not wanting to spend another minute in this hellhole. "Okay. Josh, do you have the key for the cable car?" I ask urgently. "Uh… Y-yeah. Here." he answered coherently as he takes the keys from his pocket and he hands them to me. "Oh good…" Sam said, pointing to a rock wall. I knew what her intentions were going to be.

"See that over there? That means there's a direct way out." Sam pointed out. To this, Mike protested. "There's no way Josh can make it up there." Mike said, making a good point. "Okay, you can help me and Lilly up so we can go back to tell Ash and Chris we're okay." Sam said. I agree with her on that one. "Bring Josh back the way we came and we'll all meet at the lodge." I instruct him seriously. Mike didn't take long to process what I said. "Sure thing. You two be careful." Mike said, giving both Sam and I a boost to help us climb the wall. "You two." Sam said as she climbed the way. I'm not usually religious but I pray that they make it over there safely and that they keep their eyes open.

I was still very unnerved by leaving them back there, especially with those wendigos out there. After Sam and I climbed over many rocky ledges, we had begun making our way back to the lodge. Going back there made me feel uneasy because we had no choice but go through the depths of the dark and frigid woods. My stomach twisted within me and I kind of slowed my pace. I trembled greatly with both fright and from the cold. I couldn't get that images of the bodies of our friends out of my head. Seeing them in that state, made me feel so nauseous and terrified. It also made me feel so sick that those wendigos not only had a sick sense of fashion by having our dead friends as decorations, but they were their food source as well. Seeing them in that state will never leave my head. I gazed down at my feet with wide eyes and I hugged my aching stomach with shaky breaths.

"Lilly, you okay?" Sam asked, getting me to look up. She looked at me with a look of concern and worry. "Sorry… I'm just… a bit shaken up is all." I answer, still feeling sick. Sam came over to me and pulled me into a hug. Having her hug me made me somewhat better. I hugged her back with my arms wrapped around her waist. "We'll be okay… Don't worry." she said in a quiet yet comforting tone. When we pull apart, we begin to walk again but this time hand in hand. The wind began to pick up and it made me shiver. Soon enough, we came to a small body of water. "C'mon." Sam urged. She didn't have to let me know that we'd have to cross it. As cold as it was, this water would only make it worse.

When we got in the water, I let out a shriek of utter surprise because of how ice-cold the water felt against my skin. It made my jeans stick to my legs so the water went right through the fabric. Sam too shrieked at the cold water also. "Oh…! Jesus, that's cold!" I shivered. We begin to slowly walk through the water with our arms in the air like the last time. While we made it to to the end of the lake, an eerie sound filled the air. It got me to freeze for a brief moment. Sam first gets out and turns around to help me out. The frigid air made the water more cold than it already was. But I couldn't focus on how it was, I had to focus on getting back to Ashley and Chris. Hopefully Mike and Josh make it back as well.

We were still hand in hand as we make our way to a high ledge. Looking down, I swallow hard from the height. The two of us try making our way down as carefully as we could, but it was far steeper than we thought and the rocks were frozen over. We begin falling down the cliff in scared yells. The ground soon met up with my body as fast as lightning strikes when there's a storm happening. I met the snow covered ground face first and didn't feel the pain of the impact right away. But for a brief moment I ended up blacking out from the fall. "Lilly! Lilly, wake up!" Sam urged, shaking me awake. With a sudden gasp, I shoot up to a sitting position. "Oh thank god, you scared me!" Sam said quickly. "Sorry…" I breathe. She sighed of relief that I was coherent and conscious.

We were back on our feet and back on the trail, once again hand in hand so we wouldn't lose each other. About 5 minutes later, we walk past the old shed where Chris, the flamethrower guy, and I were prior. The wind was beginning to pick up again and it caused me to shiver. It howled in my frozen ears. Before long, the shrill loud sound of a close wendigo caused the both of us to stop in our tracks. "Sam…?" I quiver, feeling that same fear course through my body. She looked at me for a moment. "RUN!" She cried, beginning to take off into a sprint. I quickly followed suit behind her. I had never run so fast in my life before. There was a few obstacles here and there that we had to get through. It was a fallen tree and some jars scattered in the snow that we had to jump over.

The lodge was in our sights and we didn't hesitate to bolt there. We make it to the front door. Sam quickly grabbed onto the doorknob and tried to open the door. However, it wouldn't open. "HEY! COME ON OPEN UP!" she screamed, banging on the door desperately. I start hitting the glass of the door in hopes of drawing attention. The way I banged on the door showed how terrified I was feeling at that point in time. That wendigo was right behind us and it could tear us to pieces any minute. "PLEASE! LET US IN! IT'S RIGHT BEHIND US!" I cry, my voice filled with sheer terror. Our cries for help were fallen on deaf ears but that didn't mean we were going to give up.

"Sam… Lilly…" a voice quietly said from behind us. We both jump out of our skin and quickly turn around. It didn't take us long to realize that it was Mike. He had more bruises on his face and neck than he had previously. "Shit Mike! You look terrible…" Sam said, taking a breather. I calmed myself down and tried to get my shaking to slow. "Gonna look worse if we stay out here." Mike panted. I turn around and bend down to pick up a stone that was sitting on the side of the door. With a strong grip, I smash in the glass that was on the door. It caused a loud shattering sound. I reach in and find the lock to the door and unlatch it. We all walk inside the lodge. It was dark and a bit warmer.

It soon dawned on me, something was off. "Mike, where's Josh at? Wasn't he with you?" I ask him. He looked down at his feet and stumbled a little. "It got him." he answered forlornly. I cover my mouth in shock and sadness. The guy I once had a crush on was dead… the guy Sam and I would be there for when he lost his sisters was dead. Was it Hannah that got to him? I don't want to know… "Damn, what an awful way to go." Sam inquired sympathetically. She then proceeds to turn on the light. "Not good." Mike said, turning the lights back off. "What do we do now?" I wonder, looking up at them. "We should check the basement… might be someone left down there." Mike suggested, beginning to walk ahead of us. The three of us proceed to walk through the cinema room in silence. Let's hope that someone is still down there.

"How do you two rate our chances of survival?" Sam questioned us. "Let's not think about that, Sam." I say with a tired sigh. "Good call, Lilly." Mike agreed on it. Before going through the other door, we were suddenly bombarded by the forms of both Chris and Ashley, running for their lives past us. "RUN! GO GO! GET OUT OF HERE!" he shouted in panic. "GO! RUN!" Ashley screamed, running by us. The three of us then see what they were running from. My eyes bulge out of my skull at the sight of at least three wendigos coming to the doorway. "OH FUCK!" I exclaimed in terror before quickly turning back where we just came from and taking off in a sprint. The shrills of the wendigos filled my ears and that was all I could hear behind me. I bolt up the stairs that led to the lounge room in heavy, panicked breaths.

Then, I see those same wendigos in here with us. I instantly freeze with complete and utter fear. There was one on the chandelier observing the area. My breathing was heavy from how scared I was. Seconds after getting here, my eyes dart to my left to see Sam rush in here. "Don't… move. Don't fucking move a muscle…" Mike whispered to her. I clamp my mouth shut as tight as possible to keep my breathing quiet. I couldn't take my eyes off the wendigo on the chandelier. Words couldn't express just how terrified I felt. So much so that I wanted to vomit. I stared at it in fear. It quietly snarled and hissed as it moves it's head.

Then, my eyes catch that that two more wedigos that Mike released came through the corridor. It turns it's attention at one of them and jumps at the miner wendigo. The two begin to fight and the first one overpowered the miner one and throws him from the stairs, then over at the fireplace to which it broke a gas pipe. Gas was starting to fill the air and that sparked an idea into my head. Turns out I wasn't the only one to get this idea. I slightly turn my head to gaze at Mike with my mouth partially open. He notices there's a naked light bulb by a side door. He could break it and whoever turns on the light, the place would blow up and the wendigos would be gone for good. I look to Sam and she nods in agreement.

Slowly, I lift up my right foot and set it down behind me to take a step back. But that step created a loud audible sound, alerting the wendigo. My eyes squeezed shut in fear because I knew the wendigo heard this. It screeched loudly in my direction and it moved over to me. My heart paused for a moment and when I opened my eyes… that fucking thing was in front of me. It was a few inches from my face. _Oh fuck, fuck, fuck… Don't kill me… oh god please… I don't want to die… not like this…_

Tears started falling down my face and the twisting in my stomach increased. Every muscle in my body locked. Some people say when you're scared out of your wits, you can't scream. That was right. I couldn't move… or breathe… or think. It would surely kill me if I made one false movement. "HEY!" Sam shouted, catching the wendigos attention. It moved away from me quickly. I look over to Sam, looking just as scared as I was. I wanted to cry out to her but knew I couldn't. Unless I want to get myself killed. Every breath drawn from my shaking and panicked body was full of fear. My confidence with Sam and Mike saving us was high and I then quickly turn around and bolt out of there. I dove into the snow and quickly back away from the lodge. I was out of there however, i was scared something might happen to Sam and Mike while they were in there.

Ashley and Chris were out of there as well. None of us said anything because of the fear of the possibility of attracting those fucking things. Not long after, the lodge suddenly explodes before my very eyes, causing Sam to fly out of there from the impact. She screams and falls into the snow. In an instant, I come to her aid. "Sam! Oh my god, are you okay?" I question, helping her to her feet. She panted heavily and held onto me for balance. "I'm fine!" she exclaimed, trying to keep her balance. Soon enough, I realized that Mike didn't make it out… He died in the explosion.

Just then, the blades of something overhead caught our attention. We look up to see a helicopter flying above us. "Holy shit… We actually made it…" I say, looking up at the copter. "Yeah… We did. Let's get the hell out of here." Sam said, pulling me into a much needed hug. I hug her back tightly. Relief was an understatement. We were so happy that we're finally being rescued out of this hell hole. This nightmare was finally over… And I couldn't be more happy. I know that we'd never forget this night and how much we all had to do just to survive it. What started out as a simple weekend getaway for remembering our lost friends to a night of fighting to survive. All I know is… We sure as fuck ain't coming back here again. Fuck. This. Place.

(Lilly's Police Interview)

10:35 AM Room 1

I sat down in a steel chair with a new cast around my wrist and some bandages for my cuts on my face and arms and leg. My head was spinning gradually and I couldn't think straight. I looked down with a waned smile on my face. I started telling the police what I know.

"There wasn't a time where Josh wasn't hurting from the loss of his sisters. He'd always come to Sam and I for support… For comfort… I… Oh god… I don't know what to think anymore. He hurt us and I...don't know if I can forgive him." I say, looking down.

"Do you need someone to talk to, Lilly? We can-" the interviewer asked.

"No. I don't need to talk to anyone." I spat.

"Sam she'd… Oh god I can't tell you how much stronger she is than me. She pulled me through all of this shit. I wish I was as strong as she is." I say, looking up slightly.

"Look, you must listen to what I'm saying now… You people have no idea what's going on down there. The horrors of those mines… Go down there. You'll see what I mean. I

There's so much down there… I'd give anything to wish I haven't seen it…" I quiver, looking up with a tired yet serious look in my eyes.

Things have changed now… All I know now is that… Sam, Ashley, Chris, and I won't ever forget what hell we went through. Not ever. And hopefully never again.


	9. Chapter 9 Update

**There's going to be more on this story where as Lilly isn't with Sam and Mike. It's another version of this story and isn't the original. These scenes will have her being with Jessica in the mines and having Emily be with the group.**

 **Stay tuned for these extras.**


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